


The Lost Prince

by Thecrazydragonlady15



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's, Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga), Yu-Gi-Oh! GX
Genre: M/M, Mild violence- nothing gory is described but there are battle scenes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-25
Updated: 2019-08-25
Packaged: 2020-10-01 19:38:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 19
Words: 47,136
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20382721
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thecrazydragonlady15/pseuds/Thecrazydragonlady15
Summary: A torn kingdom. A rising threat. A missing prince.Three heroes, Yusei Fudo, Judai Yuki, and Johan Anderson, all destined to meet, each with a future set before them by the strings of fate. The world is falling into chaos and only their bonds can stand a chance of saving everything they love.Including each other.





	1. Prologue: Destruction

**Author's Note:**

> Hello all!
> 
> It's been a long time since my last posting but this is my Yugioh Big Bang for this year. I'm so excited to finally be sharing it! I'm pushing a little late on my sign-up date but I've been a bit busy; I'm glad I could make it though.
> 
> To give a few quick thanks: I'd like to thank the BB mods for being amazing and patient people with me who lives in a perpetual state of *stressed*. 
> 
> I would also like to deeply, deeply thank kestrelmakesart for being an amazing friend, a great artist, and a blessing as a beta reader. 
> 
> You can check out kestrelmakesart's response picture at https://kestrelmakesart.tumblr.com/post/187233852736/my-ygobigbang-piece-for-thecrazydragonlady-s. Please check it out and show your support!
> 
> Without further ado, welcome to my story!

The screams filled the air with the sound of death.

He watched in abstract horror as the light grew wider and bright, engulfing a large portion of his kingdom in its path of destruction. The cape he wore around his shoulders blew forward, around his frame, as if the destruction was trying to suck him in for the sins he’d committed, for causing this very situation. He clenched his fists. There was no escaping what he had done. The only thing he could do was accept his fate. Everything moved slowly in his vision and he heard everything. The screams. They were the worst. They rang through the air over the sound of the ground ripping from the earth; whole buildings disappeared in seconds as they were touched. Instinctively, his eyes narrowed. He could hear the people who had not heeded his order to run become trapped, whether in the light or in the crevices that exploded from the ground, dragging them down into eternal darkness. 

The king did not look away. 

He watched stoically.

A gentle hand took his. He looked down briefly to find the face of his queen watching as well, both resigned to their fate. There was no time for them to escape. They had done all they could to ensure that the kingdom was prepared for the horrors it was now facing but it just didn’t seem to be enough.

Her face was twisted. He knew what worried her and squeezed her hand in return, “He’ll be safe.” She sniffed, straightening a bit.

“I know,” she whispered. 

Light exploded in front of them and the air released a horrible snarl.

“This shouldn’t have happened.”

“It’s not your fault.”

“I was the one who pushed it.”

“You thought what you had done was best for us, for the kingdom.” She squeezed his hand, leaning her head on his shoulder, “Please, don’t let it end in regret.”

“I wish… I wish a lot of things but most of all… I wish we could have given him more…,” he sighed, dropping his head a bit, “The life he deserved.”

“Shhhh darling,” she soothed. She moved to reach up, gently touching his chin and encouraging him to raise his face. “We shouldn’t be sad now. He will live. That is all that matters. One day, we will see him again and all will be as it should be.”

He sighed again. Leaning down, he pressed his lips firmly to hers, holding her for dear life as the light finally engulfed them.

****

All was quiet.

The kingdom lay in ruins and those alive to witness it did so in numb horror. They began with the few survivors who had not been taken by the light, dragging them out from under collapsed houses and from the crevices they were able to reach. 

It was slow. 

Realization dawned slowly, like the sun appearing one morning after a storm. 

There was no warmth here; this was a place of death and the more the citizens realized it, the more tragic the scene became.

Once full, cobblestone streets were barren of life but heavy with the fires and destruction the light had left in its wake. Once grand buildings were shattered, laid to waste. The castle itself remained only in half and, after several tried to find their relatives in a particular section of the kingdom, did they realize that a whole part had been torn away from land and pushed out to sea.

None could find the King or Queen.

Or their Prince.

****

News travelled quickly to the surrounding kingdoms of the destruction of New Domino.

This was a time of fear.

Who was to be destroyed next?


	2. Runaway Princes

Clanking armor echoed off of the wooden walkways and limestone walls. A lone window, high above this path, laid open, the curtains gently moving in the slight breeze, as the two people inside, a brown haired boy with eyes that sparkled with mischief and a boy with teal hair who merely shook his head, waited for the noises to cease so that they could continue. Once cleared, the brown haired one ducked his head out to look. He retreated inside after a few seconds later. A white sheet, as cliché as it looked, came flying from the window, landing on the castle wall with a soft thud. He tested the strength of the bed sheets.

“You know,” the other drawled, “I could just summon Pegasus to have us out of here in a heartbeat.”

The one working on the escape rope chuckled a bit, pulling at the one ends, “And lose the spirit of adventure? Come on Johan. Where’s the fun in that?”

Johan crossed his arms, “The fun would be in getting out of here in one piece Judai. It’s easily a twenty foot fall.”

“Every good escape plan involves a bunch of bed sheets tied together,” he countered, looking out the window again. “At least, everything I’ve ever heard of does.” 

Johan rolled his eyes, “I’m glad you didn’t say read because I know you’ve never opened a book in your life.”

Once he was sure the connection was secured, he climbed over the sill to a small ledge just outside, wrapping the sheets around his waist. He took another look around for the guards that patrolled the school’s grounds for… well, students who had the bright idea to go free climbing out of tower windows. Judai looked up to Johan. 

He smirked. “You scared?”

“Not at all. Just not eager to die.”

“I promise to catch you at the bottom.” Johan rolled his eyes again.

“You are impossible!” Judai chuckled softly before leaning quickly back in to plant a soft kiss on Johan’s nose. He wrinkled it in response.

“See you at the bottom.”

Judai disappeared.

Johan leaned out of the window sill and watched with mild amusement as he gently walked his way down. He slipped every now and then but kept a tight hold of the sheets. Johan still made sure to keep a finger on one of his many birthmarks, waiting for the emergency rescue. He could feel the beasts amusement. Not long after, Judai’s feet touched down on the wooden planks and he looked quickly around before motioning for Johan to follow him. Johan, again, rolled his eyes but followed suit.

Judai gently placed his hands on his hips as soon as he was in reach. Johan felt an electric surge at the touch and the subsequent chuckle that came from Judai as he whispered into his ear, “See? I promised to catch you.”

“That you did,” Johan smirked. He looked back up at the window before touching the ruby red mark on his arm. A purple cat-like creature appeared next to him, a brilliant ruby glistened from its forehead and tail, and it rubbed its head against his cheek. He smiled. “Ruby, mind handling those blankets?”

Ruby Carbuncle chirped a bit. Quickly, it flew back up the tower wall and into the room they had left. The blankets fell a few seconds later and Ruby reappeared, closing the window behind itself. Judai scooped up their rope as Johan petted Ruby’s head in thanks. It chirped once more before disappearing again. Judai straightened.

“Your Crystal Beasts are a big help,” he said. Johan beamed.

“They all are. That’s why they’re my best friends.” His eyes softened a bit. “And… well….”

“You don’t have to tell me. I know,” Judai assured him softly. He placed the blankets on his right arm before taking Johan’s hand in his other, giving it a reassuring squeeze. They shared a peaceful moment. There was a spark between them and to an outsider, there was no way to know that it was their shared bond of empty, lonely lives before the Academy. Before this moment. Eventually, they moved down the walkway and towards a set of stairs that went down into a courtyard, thankfully empty due to the guard rotations, and out of a door. Both of their hearts raced. Never had they been so bold before and now, here at the cusp of freedom, they found themselves standing at the edge of a wild, untamed forest. Johan released his hand. He pressed the sapphire blue mark on his arm. Like Ruby before, another creature appeared beside him but this one was a mighty horse with two wings with sapphire jewels at its joints and a horn on its forehead. Pegasus snorted. It lowered its head to be petted by Johan who smiled.

“Hey there Pegasus. Thanks for your help.” It snorted again.

“I was wonderin’ when you’d summon me,” it returned. “Thought it would’ve been at the top of the tower.”

“I thought so too,” Johan mused, “but someone wanted to be stubborn.” They both turned a bit to eye that “someone” who straightened from hiding their rope under a pile of fallen leaves. Judai smirked at the both of them.

“I do hope you two aren’t talking about me.”

Pegasus chuckled, “Of course we are youngling.” It raised its head to nibble a bit on Judai’s hair and he jerked a bit in surprise, covering the spot with his hand. The other two laughed. Pegasus raised its head, looking at the sky. “We’d best get going. Johan can’t hold our connection too long and we want to be out of range before light.”

“Right,” Judai chirped, “Hate to be captured right after our grand escape.” Johan took hold of some of Pegasus’ mane and pulled himself up. He held down a hand.

“Then let’s ride.”

Judai took it. Once he was secured behind Johan, he wrapped his arms around his waist, burying his face in between Johan’s shoulder blades, breathing in deep. He smelled of coolness and mints. A red tint coated Johan’s cheeks. He said nothing though as he gently placed his heels into Pegasus’ side, spurring it on. It whinnied before taking off on the dark deserted path; they made sure to stick to the tree lines and avoid the main road at all costs, only moving there when the forest grew too thick to manage. Pegasus rode all night. As a Crystal Beast instead of a normal horse, it managed to cover much more ground in the shorter time, finding the three of them crossing into the kingdom of New Domino early into the morning, right as the sky faded from darkness into purple, then shades of orange. It came to a stop shortly after the first rays appeared. Judai slid off his back first, then helped Johan. Pegasus ducked its head.

“You two should rest. Johan’s wiped. I can feel our connection fading.” Judai nodded and looked at Johan who yawned, rubbing his eye with the back of his hand.

“Thanks Pegasus. We’ll get secured then take a nap.” It nodded before nuzzling Johan’s cheek quickly for a pat before disappearing like Ruby had before. Judai took Johan’s hand. “Come on, let’s look for a place to rest. Maybe there’s a cave somewhere around here?”

“Around here,” Johan yawned. “It’s all trees.” Judai blinked.

“Okay… well, how about a tree then?”

“Don’t you think we’ve done enough climbing for one day?”

“I mean you can’t really have too much climbing but how about… ah ha! How about the roots then?” He motioned to a rather large tree that had grown above a large boulder, its roots reaching desperately for the soil but leaving just a large enough hiding place for them to squeeze their way in. Johan smiled.

“That works.”

They shuffled their meager bags inside, wrapping their cloaks around them before climbing inside as well. The two of them huddled up close to each other and relished in the warmth as their eyes slowly drifted shut.

*****

The ground trembled and it sounded like thunder pounded through the sky.

Judai jerked up, clopping his head on a bit of root. He untangled himself from Johan as he climbed out of their hiding spot while rubbing the place on his head that he’d hit. He looked over the boulder in time to see what was going on. There were about ten of them. Each horse that rode up the hidden path had approximately two riders with the main riders covered in black hoods while the secondary riders seemingly held on for dear life. Judai rose up a bit, shocked and confused. A hand grabbed his wrist though before he could reveal himself to them and he was dragged back down with a firm “SHHHHH” from Johan. 

It was only when the last rider started to disappear from sight did they return to the road. Judai’s brows remained knitted. 

“Where do you think they’re going,” he asked. Johan shrugged.

“Don’t know but it doesn’t look good.” Johan’s face paled. “Judai… do you think those people were…?”

He turned his head, “Were what?”

“Bandits.”

Now it was Judai’s turn to pale. He quickly turned to look back down the road, fear and adrenaline shooting through him and he took a hesitant step forward, “No way… you don’t think that they… kidnapped those people?”

“It’s possible. We can’t know for sure though.... Hey wait! What do you think you’re going?”

“Isn’t it obvious,” Judai returned. “I’m going to find out what they’re doing.” Johan looked between him and the tree again before grunting. Judai kept moving down the road. His heart was pounding and he felt… weird was the only way he could describe it. Almost like he wasn’t connected to his body. Kidnappers. Real kidnappers! He’d heard so many tales about them and how the heroes had helped to save them but… could he really be something like that?

A whiny caught his attention. Judai smiled and turned, holding up his hand so Johan could catch it and help him jump onto Pegasus’ back. 

Pegasus snorted at him, “You two are being reckless.”

“We can’t just let them get away with those people,” Judai smirked.

“Agreed,” Johan said, “We’ve got to stop them.” Pegasus snorted again.

“Just be careful. Call us if you need us. Johan’s rested enough for it.”

“We’ll be careful and keep that in mind,” Johan promised, petting the beast’s neck. Pegasus surged forward with a renewed burst of speed. They remained quiet for a bit until Judai taped Johan’s shoulder, pointing straight ahead; they’d managed to catch up with the riders before they disappeared further into the woods. Pegasus saw them too and adjusted its speed accordingly, trying to keep them out of sight. The group veered off to the right, disappearing past a dense growth of trees which the three of them followed. They burst from the forest line into what looked like a clearing but… the previous group was gone. Pegasus came to a slow stop. Johan scratched his head, “Now where in the world did they get to?”

“Let’s look around. Maybe they have a base around here or something.”

“A base? Judai, there isn’t any sort of structure within ten miles from here! We’re only on the edges of the New Domino Kingdom; the kingdom’s center is still a two day journey towards the ocean!” Judai’s eyes lit up.

“Ooooh can we go see that when we’re done here?”

Pegasus turned its head, “Need I remind the two of you that we’re currently on the hunt for some bandits? Now’s not the time to get airheaded.” Judai shrunk a bit, looking appropriately abashed. The two of them slid of its back. Pegasus gave Johan a reassuring press to the cheek before disappearing, back to the other dimension to await further orders like the others.

Judai looked up, shielding his eyes from the sun with his hand, “Got any ideas on where to start looking?”

Johan stared him down, “You’re the one saying that they’ve got to have a hideout!”

“Fair enough but that still doesn’t change our problem….” Judai thought for a second then snapped his fingers. He smirked. “Of course! How could I forget?”

“Forget? What’d you forget?”

Judai scratched his cheek, “We both kind of forgot about….”  _ Kuri! _ Both of them turned at the happy sound that came from seemingly nowhere. A brown fluff ball with green hands and feet, a pair of delicate white wings, and large round eyes appeared, nuzzling in close to Judai’s face. “…Winged Kuriboh.” Johan smirked.

“Shame on us then.” Kuriboh kept nuzzling Judai until he gently reached up and pushed the fluff ball away.

“Hey pal, think you can give us hand? We’re trying to find anywhere a whole bunch of people might be staying.” Kuriboh chirped again before turning and flying up into the sky. Judai could see it turn one way then the other before shooting off to the north of them and disappearing into the tree line.

Several minutes passed. Johan hummed and taped his finger to his chin, contemplating whether or not to send Ruby out as well when they both heard the familiar  _ Kuri!  _ again. They turned. Winged Kuriboh motioned for them to follow.

The area seemed to get darker the further in they went; the trees were packed together. Both of them pulled out their weapons, ready to defend themselves if needed. Judai made sure to reach back and grab Johan’s hand. Winged Kuriboh lead the way to what looked like a regular rock face at the base of a small cliff’s edge that was hidden at ground level by the trees. It chirped again and went around the rock, disappearing out of sight; both of them were amazed when they found that there was actually an opening behind the rock, hidden from sight in all directions by the conveniently placed monster boulder. Behind it was a tunnel. It was dark and smelled of earth and water, a metallic scent that stung at Judai’s nose. The air grew colder. Light faded into complete darkness. Judai stubbed his toe onto a decent size rock and he hissed in pain.

“We need some light in here.”

“We better not,” Johan whispered back. “Who knows if we’re being watched or not? Last thing we need is to let them really have a good fix on us.”

“That smarts though….”

“Keep going. Once we free those people, it’ll be worth a few stubbed toes.”

_ Kuri, kuri, kur-ri! _

Winged Kuriboh was floating near a bend in the tunnel. The two of them crept forward and it went around it, revealing another, shorter path that clearly had an exit on it. They tensed. Continuing forward, they stopped at the exit, hiding on either side so that they could spy on what lay waiting for them.

Not that they got much of a view.

Three people stood at the entrance, swords raised at them. One was a kid with bright red hair; the other, taller and skinnier with black colored hair; the final, larger in weight than the other two with shorter brown hair. They each glared at the two of them.

“Alright, drop your weapons and come out with your hands up,” the skinny one ordered.

“We’ve known you were following us,” the red head, a kid Johan realized in surprise, continued, “Both of you are dumb to think we wouldn’t have a way to watch out for invaders or bandits.”

“B-bandits,” Judai spluttered.

“We’re not bandits,” Johan protested. The red head thrusted his sword forward a bit more.

“Do you really think we’re that dumb?” The brown head stepped forward.

“Get up. Both of you. And move it.” Johan and Judai shared a look. While the fight would have been a 9-on-3, they dropped their weapons and raised their hands, allowing the three of them to take them hostage so that they could find the others and maybe, just maybe, actually come up with a decent escape plan.


	3. The Bandit King

“I’m pretty sure that no hero ever had this issue before.” Judai squirmed against the rope that bound his wrists. They were sitting in a wooden cage, each pinned to a different pole, with their wrists behind them. Johan just kept his eyebrows raised, continuing with, “Now what?” Judai kicked his feet.

“We’ll get out of this.”

Johan snorted, “Right and how exactly smart guy? Our weapons are gone, we’re too far apart to untie each other, and I can’t summon the Crystal Beasts!”

Judai gritted his teeth, kicking his feet a bit harder than before. He pulled against the pole again but it didn’t budge and neither did the rope. Eventually, his strength gave out and he collapsed to the ground, panting hard while Johan shook his head in response. Judai frowned a bit. He reached out with his foot to gently kick Johan’s, genuinely missing his touch in that second; Johan smiled a bit and moved a bit to make the reach easier. Judai almost couldn’t look him in the face, “I’m sorry Johan. This is all my fault.”

“Hey,” he soothed, “don’t be. If I didn’t ask for this kind of thing, I wouldn’t have come with you in the first place.” He brightened a bit. “Besides, this makes it more exciting don’t you think?”

Judai chuckled darkly, “Something like that.” He looked up, his eyes drooped a bit in the corners, “Would be more exciting if we could get out of here and get those other people out as well.” 

“We’ll figure something out….”

“I hope you’re right,” he sighed. 

_ Kuri! _ Winged Kuriboh floated next to Judai’s head but was glaring at the door to their cell; both princes turned their eyes there and, surprise, there were their captors again; only this time, they came with a fourth man. The three were chattering excitedly at him. Neither Judai nor Johan could tear their eyes away from this new person. He was a tall man with deeply tanned skin. His hair was dark and spiked with bits of bright yellow in it, accenting several different parts. His eyes were sharp but not… harsh. If anything, he seemed wiser beyond his years as he seemed to listen to both the three of them and scan the two of them. Brown and green met with blue. There was a spark in the air whether they knew it or not but Judai, at least, shivered at the connection. 

This man was powerful. 

He turned to face his three friends, “You said they tried to sneak in?” The shorter red-head nodded.

“Right Yusei. We got them trying to come in the front entrance.” Yusei raised an eyebrow. He turned back and looked them over once more. He sighed. 

“Let’s untie them.” The three others baulked.

“What? Untie them!?”

“Have you lost your mind Yusei? What if they work for Goodwin?”

The redhead asked last, “What are you thinking Yusei?” Yusei smiled at them.

“Let me ask you guys a question: Do you think anyone who works for Goodwin would have allowed themselves to be captured without fight? Or, even better, do you think that they would come riding into our hideout of all places without an army behind them?” He cut them off, “They wouldn’t. Besides, neither of these two look like they can handle a fight either way.”

“Excuse you,” Judai snapped, “Johan can perfectly handle a sword.” 

Johan blushed and ducked his head. “Judai… do you even think about half of the stuff you say?” The four outside the cage shared a look. Yusei pursed his lips.

“Johan and Judai you say? You wouldn’t happen to be  _ Prince _ Johan and  _ Prince _ Judai?” Now it was their turn to share a look. Judai narrowed his eyes.

“Who’s asking? Going to ship us back? Just a heads up: we refuse.” 

Yusei didn’t respond. Instead he faced the others, “Rally, help me untie them and out of the cage. Blitz, Taka, go let Nerve know that we’re going to need the guest quarters made up for a little while at least. Let him know that we’re also going to need to re-ration the supplies for two more.” Blitz, the blue haired one, rubbed his head. 

“Okay Yusei but Nerve is going to be pissed.” 

“Aww c’mon Blitz. You know Nerve can’t be too mad at Yusei for too long,” Taka countered. Yusei smirked. 

“None of you can and you know it. Now get going.” The two turned and took off further into the camp. Rally, the redhead apparently, took out a key from his tunic and opened the door, allowing the two of them inside the cage. Johan and Judai tensed. Yusei ducked down next to Judai, smiling a bit. His hands were covered in gloves but that didn’t stop the pure  _ heat _ radiating from his skin as he fingers brushed against Judai’s exposed wrists. Judai tensed even more. It was electrifying. Yusei smiled gently at him. “Sorry about this. The three of them meant well; they were only trying to make sure that we were safe.” The rope fell away. Judai pulled his wrists out front and rotated them before gently rubbing his hands over the skin to try and stop a bit of the burning. Yusei stood. He offered him a hand. “I’m Yusei.” Judai eyed it but took it, allowing him to help him to his feet. Rally did the same for Johan.

“I’m Rally! Sorry about the treatment.” Johan smiled and gently patted Rally’s head. 

“No hard feelings. We get you were doing your job.” He looked around a bit. “What is this place? Who are you all?”

Rally eyed him incredulously, “You mean ...you've never heard of the Junk Warriors?”

“‘Fraid not,” he admitted. 

Rally looked like he was about to say something but Yusei put a hand on his head, tipping his hat a bit forward to stop him, “That’s alright. We’re not really known outside of New Domino anyway.” He motioned to the door. “Follow us gentlemen. We’ll show you around a bit.”

“You’re not… going to try to keep us from running,” Johan asked slowly. 

“You’re welcomed to try,” he smirked. “But you two don’t seem like the running type. Especially if you have the nerve to try to sneak into a base.” 

Judai couldn’t help but smirk, “Looks can be deceiving.” They followed him though as he lead the way out. At first, there wasn’t much to see: a couple of trees, maybe a couple of other natural features but it didn’t take Johan long to realize that they were separated from the main part of the camp. The group eventually broke through the treeline. The camp was built with a mixture of permanent and non-permanent homes; some were tiny, barely-held-together places that maybe could fit one or two people inside of them and they seemed to be the ones that would last longer than the other housing. The non-permanent ones were tents. All sorts of people milled about: men, women, children, crying infants. Johan and Judai shared a look. 

Yusei continued to lead the way, “We’re the Junk Warriors. Our goal is reunite the Kingdom of New Domino with the island of Satellite that was torn off during the Zero Reverse Event.” 

“Zero Reverse,” Judai asked softly, “You mean that big event that destroyed most of this kingdom?”

Yusei nodded. “The same one.” He stopped, motioning to the people around them. “These people are from the Satellite; by rights they are New Domino citizens but for various reasons, the kingdom has refused to acknowledge anyone from there as such. Anyone who crosses into the kingdom’s territory for any reason,” he motioned to his face, “are marked.” 

Judai, who was standing the closest, could see the rather bold yellow line that extended from the bottom of his eye to his jaw line. There was a triangle accenting one of the corners. 

“That seems so… barbaric,” Johan spat. Yusei dropped his hand. He gently patted Rally’s head before continuing on with the tour.

“The kingdom doesn’t see it that way. They see it as a way of keeping undesirables out of reach.” They walked up to one of the best built buildings in the camp and Yusei smiled down to Rally, “Can you go help the others? You know they’re useless without you.” Rally puffed up his cheeks.

“You’re just trying to get rid of me,” he pouted, “but I’ll go make sure they’re still in one piece. Blitz was a bit stressed earlier.” Rally eyed the two princes once more before taking off. Yusei opened the door. 

“Welcome to my home gentlemen. It’s not much but it will give us a chance to talk in privacy.” They entered right before him and Yusei closed the door tightly. The room they stood in was sparsely covered; there was a table and a couple of chairs and one chest for storage but, otherwise, that was it. There seemed to be another room off to the side that they assumed was his bed room. He motioned to two of the chairs. “Please, if you don’t mind.” He took the seat on the opposite side of them. Judai and Johan sat down. Yusei sighed, “This is probably going to be very confusing but I actually have a very important request for the two of you. As princes of different countries, you both have a power that neither I nor the Junk Warriors have and we are desperate for all of the help we can get.” 

Another round of shared looks. Johan leaned forward, placing his elbows on his knees, thoughtfully placing his chin in his hands. 

“It depends. Exactly what kind of  _ help _ is it you’re looking for?” 

Yusei took a deep breath, “Armies. We could use the help of armies.”


	4. Reasons

“ A- armies,” Judai spluttered. Yusei laced his fingers in front of his face, nodding sagely.

“Yes, armies.”

“And you want us to just… provide them to you,” Johan asked incredulously. He nodded. “You are out of your mind! There's no way we are doing that.”

“I understand. Honestly, if I was in your places, I would think the guy talking was out of his mind too.” He closed his eyes. “But, please, hear me out.” Johan looked at Judai, looking for what he thought about the situation but he just looked as confused as he felt. The look passed quickly. Judai stared Yusei in the face.

“We’re listening.”

Yusei smiled, “Thank you, seriously.” His shoulders slumped a bit as if a little weight had disappeared as he recounted his tale, “When Zero Reverse happened, a large portion of the kingdom was torn away, pushed out to sea and all but abandoned by the kingdom. There was a lot of confusion after the initial event. More importantly, there was no one to lead the kingdom through this crisis….”

“What about King Goodwin,” Johan asked. “Hasn't he had the throne the whole time?”

Yusei shook his head, “No, people outside the kingdom only hear of Goodwin of being the great hero king of New Domino. Fact is… There was a royal family before him but…,” he hesitated a bit, “they disappeared during Zero Reverse.”

Johan’s face twisted, “They didn't ...?”

Yusei shrugged, “No one knows for sure. The point is: there was a gap; Goodwin filled it.” His grip tightened. “At first, he promised to work on reuniting the two parts but the years passed and suddenly, the people of the Satellite found themselves being classed as second class citizens. Anyone who attempted to leave the island was captured and tagged like wild animals….” He absently reached to lightly brush his fingers over the golden line underneath his left eye. Neither of them was given a chance to ask about it as he continued with, “....but the worst part thus far have been the kidnappings.” The princes jerked. Yusei didn't seem to notice or he chose to ignore it as he continued with, “People began to disappear a few years ago. Some were really close friends of mine so I went looking… turns out, King Goodwin is perfectly alright with taking his own citizens and selling them off.”

Johan gasped, “What do you mean selling them off?”

Yusei smiled sadly at them, “I mean exactly what it sounds like. He's passing them off as slaves to other kingdoms.”

A chill went through the princes. Johan’s mind immediately flashed back to a shallow faced woman, Arden was her name, who had been so polite to him when he was growing up. She always had a soft smile. He loved her sea stories that she said had come from her home. When he asked her about it, her face would take on a soft, far off look and she would tell him that it didn't matter… even if she could get close to it, she would never truly be home. He'd ask again. She never explained. 

Now, he really knew. 

She was marked… just like Yusei. 

“That's horrible,” Judai breathed. Yusei closed his eyes. Johan took the moment to reach out a hand to brush Judai’s hand. They made eye contact. Judai’s eyes flickered and Johan furrowed his brow; he knew that look anywhere and that worried him quite a bit. 

“I can’t ask too much of either of you,” Yusei finished, “especially since we've just met but, please, we could use all the help we can get.”

Judai started to open his mouth but Johan cut him off, “We will think about it.” Yusei’s eyes widened and his smile grew. Judai could feel the heat rise to his cheeks as his expression but he swallowed hard to fight down this… feeling. Whatever it was.

A knock came room the not- so- sturdy door and Yusei shouted for the person to enter. A tall man with a light beard and a cloth wrapped around his entered; he eyed the guest before raising a hand in greeting to Yusei returned it, “Nerve, these are Princes Judai and Johan.”

“I gathered,” he grunted. “Name’s Nerve. Head of just about everything around here when Yusei doesn't feel like doing it which is pretty often.”

“Now that's not fair….” Nerve raised an eyebrow and Yusei stood from behind his desk with a smile. There was a clear fondness between the two. The two princes stood as well. “Since you feel that way, I’ll show them the rooms before we join everyone for dinner?”

Nerve bowed mockingly, “As you wish boss.”

Yusei laughed. It was pretty light hearted and both Judai and Johan found themselves blushing at the sound. It as a strange sensation but neither of them said anything about the other’s expression as they followed him from the office. The sun was starting to set, casting the place into a fiery haze; they took a chance to look around the camp just a little bit more and they were less than pleased by what they saw. It was clear Yusei and his bandits were doing the best they could. The people around were a bit scattered. The weaker ones sat wherever they could find the place to. Anyone who was able bodied moved about, trying to organize or care for those who could not. Mothers held crying children. Even those that should seemingly be up, playing, and smiling, were somber and sitting out of the way of anyone who was working. All of them bore the same mark as Yusei but in different designs. 

Johan sped up to walk beside Yusei, “When you said that the people were marked….”

He nodded. “Yes, they are.” He looked briefly at the people. “Anyone who steps off the Island of Satellite is captured almost immediately. They’re kept at New Domino’s very own prison. It’s called the Facility; just the name alone is enough to give anyone from there nightmares. It’s there that they’re marked as a criminal for no reason other than they left the island.” 

“Is that how you got yours?” Pause. “You said you went hunting for a friend….”

There was an odd look that passed over Yusei’s eyes. It was frustrated. It was angry. It was… sad. 

Extremely sad.

Yusei licked his lips, “Yeah. A really good friend of mine went missing…. It took me a while to follow him but I know that he’s safe. I was captured shortly after I found him; they sent me to the facility for my troubles.” His fists clenched. 

Johan noticed but didn’t say anything about it, “It’s good that he’s alright though. I’m sure that he’s happy you came to him anyway.” 

Yusei released a soft sigh, “I’m not so sure about that.” He stopped walking at one of the huts. “Sorry for the condition of this place. We’re trying to keep up with the high demand of the people we’re rescuing. This place has been empty for a while though; it’s alright if you two have it for yourselves for right now.”

“But what if you get new people?” 

“Don’t worry about that,” Nerve cut in with a smile, “We’ve got enough able-bodied people that we can throw up some temporary houses.” He motioned to the hut they were standing in front of, “This one is just an example. Once things have quieted down a bit, we’ll focus on getting something more permanent.”

Judai’s expression softened and he bowed his head, “Thank you.” Johan mimicked him. 

Yusei waved a hand, “We’ll give you two a minute to look around. You probably want some time alone; I know we haven’t been the most accommodating since you’re arrival.”

Judai scratched his head, “To be fair, we did intrude on your land.” 

Nerve laughed. He dropped a large, rough hand on Judai’s shoulder, patting him, “Don’t worry. We’ll make sure to cash in on two healthy young people.” 

Both princes chuckled nervously. Whatever that meant. Yusei shook his head with a soft smile and the two of them left. Johan watched them go for a few moments until a squeaking sound caught his attention and he turned to find Judai opening the door to their new little home. He bowed mockingly, “After you.” Johan rolled his eyes at the cheesiness of it. He stepped past though, making sure to reach up and gently brush a hand along Judai’s jaw, sending flames across his nose. Johan blew him a kiss.

“Thanks love.” 

Judai’s breathing very clearly hitched. It was only after Johan had entered the room that he was able to move.

Inside was… nothing really. There were two cots on either side of the dirt-floor room but it was clear that more had been there recently. Their bags were placed gently on one wall and that was it. 

That was it.

“It’s definitely not a palace,” Johan mused. 

Judai flopped onto one of the cots, his head tilted back. “I don’t know. It’s kind of charming in its own way right?” 

“Maybe.” Johan faced him, his eyes hardened. “So what do you think?” 

“Hmm?”

“About this. I mean… Yusei did give us quite a bit to think on….”

“Oh,” Judai frowned, “right.” 

They fell silent for a few moments. Judai bit his lip while Johan raised a hand to his chin. It was a lot to take in obviously and there really wasn’t any way to validate what he was trying to say….

“Why don’t we ask the Crystal Beasts for help?”

Johan blinked. “What?”

“The Crystal Beasts,” Judai chirped again, “Do you think they could help us verify what he was saying? I mean… Yusei seems like a trustworthy guy and… well, call it a feeling but I think we can actually trust what he’s saying but we can’t make any call without knowing everything for certain is the truth. Why don’t we ask the Crystal Beasts? We could probably get Cobalt to check things out….” Johan leaped forward, grabbing Judai’s shoulder.

“Judai! You’re a genius!” 

He released him, taking a step back. Johan rolled up the sleeve of his shirt, exposing the various colors that decorated his arm. Judai had seen them plenty of times before hand; having been there since birth, Johan used them as his connection to the Crystal Beasts. There was a limitation though. Johan had to be able to physically touch the symbols he wanted to summon and the more beasts he summoned, the more tired he became. The size of them mattered too. Amber, being roughly the size of a small hut itself, was much harder to summon for extended periods of time than say Pegasus who was only the size of a normal horse. It was only Ruby Carbuncle who was able to stay with him nearly every hour if he wanted it to but having to explain a strange looking cat to everyone got tiring very quickly. Therefore, they mostly stayed in spirit form, out of the way. 

Johan closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He pressed the cobalt blue mark on his forearm. His forehead wrinkled as he concentrated on the creature he wanted to summon. There was a cool sensation that always came with summoning any kind of spiritual creature to this world and while those on the outside couldn’t see the summoning (except for when one just appeared in front of them), Johan could feel the… well,  _ slide _ was the best word he could describe it as. Within seconds, a large eagle-like bird sat between them. Cobalt Eagle bowed its head. Johan smiled and gave it a quick, friendly pat which it preened at but otherwise, attempted to remain stoic towards. 

“Did you catch everything we said,” Johan asked. 

Cobalt nodded, “Loud and clear. I’ll take a quick flight over New Domino and report back.”

“Don’t take too long….”

It raised its giant wings, easily expanding them halfway across the room, “I’m the fastest flyer you have. Don’t worry; I’ll be back before your stamina runs out.” Johan nodded. 

“Much appreciated.” Cobalt turned and flapped once, easily pushing itself off the ground and through the wall with ease. Judai whistled. 

“Good thing they’re spirits or that would’ve been hard to explain. Could you imagine? ‘Hey… what’s with the giant, bird-sized hole in your wall?’ ‘Oh, we just wanted to make sure you were telling us the truth Yusei! Had to send the giant spirit-bird out to double check everything!’” Johan chuckled. He took a seat on the cot next to Judai and they fell silent again. 

…. Or as silent as they could be when a giant bird comes tumbling into your room.

Cobalt, just as quickly as it had left, fell through the wall. Both of them jerked as it did, crashing into the ground in a splay of feathers and dirt. Everything settled in a new, eerier silence and they both slowly looked up to the carnage around them. Nothing was physically knocked over. Cobalt had seen better days though.

Johan jumped first, "Cobalt! What happened?"

Three sets of faces appeared in the bird's eye- Johan, Judai, and Winged Kuriboh- all staring at it in concern. Its vision swam.

"Something's..." he struggled, "Something blocked me from seeing the kingdom. A barrier of some kind." Johan moved so that he could gently lift its head up and sit it on his knees. Cobalt sighed. The nervous energy went out of its shoulder-area and its wings slumped which gave Judai got a chance to examine the damage more; it looked like something had attacked it, leaving deep cuts along its body and some of the feathers had been ripped from its face. His brow furrowed.

"You were attacked? But Johan didn't summon you completely to this world!"

Cobalt's head tilted so he could weakly eye Judai, "It's... the barrier is made of energy. Strong energies. I've never seen anything like this here in this world."

Johan stroke his head, "Go rest. Thank you for your help." The eagle nodded softly before closing its eyes and disappearing. When it was gone, Johan looked up, a flash of seriousness on his face, "I think we have a serious problem."

"I've got a bad feeling about this. Something's not right," Judai said slowly, "Maybe... maybe we should get the armies after all."

"You're right." Pause. "Let's just hope... whatever it is..." Johan swallowed. "Let's just hope it doesn't destroy us in the process."


	5. Raid

A week passed in relative peace around the camp. 

There was a lot of work to be done: injured to be cared for, children fed, played with, and educated, buildings to construct, food to be hunted or gathered by small bands in the surrounding forests, and warriors to be trained. And that was just the basic work. Neither Judai nor Johan could imagine the coordination Yusei had to have in order to hit the slave caravans that travelled through the kingdom in an attempt to sell off Goodwin’s “goods.” 

The two of them helped where they could. They learned quickly how to build a semi-decent hut, and how to cook a tender rabbit from Nerve but, most importantly, they helped to make the children laugh and smile. Despite being without toys, marked, branded and hunted, it was the children that worked the hardest to bring some light to their new world and they _ loved _ playing Castle with the two princes. Judai especially was great. He easily over exaggerated his parts, earning their love and respect. Especially when he let them win when it was their turn to be the good prince and he was relegated to the bad prince. 

Yusei enjoyed seeing these moments but what he found more enjoyable was when he got the chance to speak to him alone. Judai was an energetic person. For the first couple of days, he was hesitant to be involved with anything they did but he’d eventually conceded to the children. Yusei was perfectly happy to share the experience with him. They’d looked at a feeding schedule for the people and animals on Wednesday. They’d sparred on Thursday. Friday, they took the chance to patrol the woods, taking their shoes off to dip them in a stream. He felt a sense of… freedom with Judai that he hadn’t felt in years or with anyone else and the sensation nearly sent him reeling when he realized it.

After all, he just wasn’t sure what Judai felt for him. 

The moments had been sweet but it was still too early to decide if there really was anything between them. Besides, it looked like there _ was _something between the two princes. How much of something, he couldn’t tell.

Despite this analysis, Yusei couldn’t help but watch Judai contently from the shade of a hut. He was leaning against one of the walls they had just finished constructing; sweat rolled down his neck to the hem of his shirt and he used the back of his hand to wipe some away. Judai was laughing and lying on the ground as a couple of kids piled on top of him. Something twanged in his chest and he felt heat rising to his cheeks. 

Yusei took a deep breath.

It was a feeling that was hard to ignore. 

Both of the princes messed with his emotions in ways he didn’t think he’d ever experienced before.

Speaking of Princes, as he turned away from the sight of Judai, he managed to catch a glimpse of Johan disappearing behind a building, in a secluded part of the camp. He looked from side to side. Yusei's eyes narrowed a bit. He followed behind him. 

Johan had stopped behind a building and had rolled up his right sleeve. He took a deep breath. From where he stood, Yusei could see several colored marks decorating the skin from the middle of his forearm and up to his elbows. Johan pressed one. A few seconds passed. Then he released the design he had pressed before smiling up to the air, speaking to it, reaching up to pet it, before turning. His eyes widened and he stuttered out, “Yu-Yusei! What are you doing here?”

He raised an eyebrow, “It’s part of the camp I run.” He shook his head, “Actually, I saw you come this way and I was worried. Just wanted to make sure you were alright. What were you doing and what are there marks on your arm? Are you bound?”

Johan swallowed hard. He looked around, maybe for Judai. Yusei didn’t let him escape that easily. He crossed his arms and waited for him to say something. Johan finally sighed and motioned to a log waiting to be used in new building, offering a seat so the two of them could talk in the shade of the building. Yusei sat first. Johan beside him. They remained quiet for a few minutes; a gentle breeze rustled their hair and Johan pulled at the hem of his sleeve until he could find his words.

“Zero Reverse didn’t mess up just New Domino,” he said, barely above a whisper. “All the kingdoms were scared. I was born a couple of years after it had happened and I was born with these marks on my arm. Everyone thought the same way you did: that I was born bounded to a dragon only… no dragon ever appeared.” He chuckled darkly, "Still, they felt it was best to keep me as hidden as possible. Rumors were spreading. The big one being that Zero Reverse was done to target the royal family and the prince who was said to have been bounded…. My parents were afraid that we would be targeted next so they… isolated me. Kept me under the protection of a select few people." He tugged at the sleeve again. "I didn't have many friends but apparently I was able to communicate with spirits called the Crystal Beasts. I sent Ruby Carbuncle out to check something for me which is what you saw." 

He rolled up the sleeve of his blouse. Yusei finally got a chance to see the marks up close. They looked like jewels imbedded in his skin; they sparkled a bit when he moved his arm to show him better. "I'm only able to summon any of them when I'm touching their jewel. I've been trying to summon them without it for years but I've gotten nowhere." He smiled softly. "Judai was the first one to really get me. I was so glad there was someone else who…" He stopped. "I don't think I should be the one to tell you his story. That's not… my right."

"Yusei," a voice called. He stood as Rally came running up to them, holding a scroll in his hands. "We just got word of another caravan leaving soon!" He handed it over. Yusei patted his shoulder.

"Thanks Rally." He read it quickly but his face fell. "Rally, new mission. Go get the raiding team ready. That caravan is moving today."

"A caravan," Johan's face twisted, "another slave caravan?"

Yusei nodded, folding up the paper. He placed it into the top part of his shirt, walking back in the direction he had just come from. Johan followed.

"They've been increasing in size lately," Yusei mused, "and frequency. I've got a bad feeling about it but… I can't pin down what it is." He paused, stopping once they were back in sight of the open communal area. Judai ran up to them. 

"What's going on? It's suddenly gotten very busy."

"Another slave caravan," Yusei explained. “We're riding soon. It'll be passing our location within the next half day.”

Johan jumped a bit and Judai's eyes moved to him only to find that what had startled him was Ruby returning from its mission. He leaned his head so the cat resting on his arm could give him the news from his work. Ruby didn't speak often or as the others did. Johan understood it no matter what. His eyes went wide. He grabbed Yusei by the arm as Ruby disappeared. He turned, surprised. 

"The middle cart has the slaves," he told him. "There's twenty there but the other carts are trapped. They're filled with New Domino warriors. Seven carts in total. Three front, three back."

Yusei blinked, "How… wait, that spirit thing you talked about earlier?"

"You… you told him," Judai flounder. 

"If it's any consolation, I found out on accident," Yusei assured him. 

Judai blinked. There was an odd sensation in the area of his heart but he swallowed it down. It was tight….

Yusei patted his shoulder, "Why don't the two of you come out with us? We could use the extra hands and I get the feeling you two are good with a sword."

"Never put it to use on the battlefield," Johan admitted, "But I've won my fair share of tournaments. Judai too right?"

"Uh," he muttered. Johan leaned his head to the side but didn't ask as Yusei merely nodded and accepted the answer.

"Great. Let's get you two horses and then we can talk strategy with the rest of the raid team." 

The two of them nodded and followed as he lead the way. 

*****

The raid was simple enough to follow. Thanks to Johan’s information, they were ready to strike hard on the first and last three sets of carts. Rally smirked and pointed down, “Watch how Yusei and the others handle it then we can go.”

“You mean me and Judai,” Johan corrected. “You promised Yusei to stay hidden.” Rally pouted.

“But it’s not fair. You two get to fight and you just got here.”

Judai ruffled his hair, “We’ve also been practicing our swordplay since we were younger than you.” Rally still pouted. “Tell you what, how about when we get done here, I teach you a couple of the basics that you can practice?” Rally’s face lit up.

“Really?”

“Really.” He pumped his fist excitedly but got quiet as the first raid group came out. Rally pointed and the two of them locked their eyes on the scene.

The caravan was travelling in a small valley. There was high ground on either side. Men on horses rode on either side of the travelling band but as the road narrowed, they were forced to merge into the line. The first group rose from their hiding places at the top of the cliffs; everyone was wearing earth colored cloaks that camouflaged them. They were the archers.

Fighting was about to begin. Judai instinctively reached out and put a hand on Rally’s head, ready to push his eyes out of sight of the carnage to follow. Rally squirmed but was wise enough to not make a sound.

The archers pulled back on their bows and arrows, aimed, and fired.

A lot of the exposed guards fell. Their horses whined and started to back up. The soldiers struggled to get them back under control. 

The second volley. 

More of them dropped. Finally, the caravan stopped completely and the six wagons with soldiers emptied. Johan smirked. 

“Now the archers can really finish them off.”

“Yeah but we’ve got another problem,” Rally said. He pointed to the middle cart. It was surrounded by soldiers. Judai’s eyes went wide. 

“They’re not going to be able to shoot down there without hurting the people.” 

Johan looked right, “The archers are going to take a while to get down the mountain.”

“Look,” Rally exclaimed. They turned and saw Yusei’s team running forward. There were about thirty of them against about sixty-five soldiers that were still standing. Judai turned to Johan.

The two sets of soldiers met with a violent clash. Shouts rang out as metal sang in the air, sword on sword, sword to shield. Several seconds passed in a bloody dance that resulted in shouts of valor turning to screams of anguish as people began to fall.

“Let’s go.” Johan nodded. The two jumped up and ran for the cliff edge and, as they did, Johan touched his arm, summoning Pegasus. It caught the two of them and whined. The guards looked up, confused. Judai drew his sword. Johan petted his neck, “We’re going to do a quick switch.” Pegasus nodded. It flew closer to the ground, kicking a few to the ground. Judai jumped off close to Yusei who had become tangled up with a soldier, neither of them giving ground until Yusei spun and kicked his face, sending him flying. The two moved back to back.

“Change of plans a bit,” Yusei breathed. 

“We noticed.” Judai swung, cutting a man across the chest. He kicked him away. He looked back and saw a second man coming for Yusei so he spun, catching the second sword, stopping it from cutting his neck. Yusei smiled at him thankfully. 

Judai’s heart pounded at the sight.

He disengaged the sword. He couldn’t help but smirk when a whole bunch of soldiers suddenly went flying and Johan, riding on the back of a giant Mammoth who easily swung the soldiers into the air. 

“That’s one way to take them out.” Johan’s smile flickered.

“Yeah but not for long,” Judai breathed. He sheathed his sword and ran forward. Amber Mammoth could sense the issue and it stopped, reaching up with its trunk to grab him around the waist. As it vanished, it passed him off to Judai. He gripped his shoulders before scooping him up. “Yusei! Johan’s out.” Yusei kicked the soldier away. He turned, looking at the unconscious prince; summoning those beasts must take a lot out of him. He ran closer to them.

“Let’s get him somewhere safe.”

“But your men….” 

He smiled. “They’re fine. That beast he summoned helped even the odds.” He looked around. “That way. Let’s get him up to Rally and then back down here.” Judai shifted.

“I can take him… really….” Yusei reached forward and took him. After a little adjustment, Yusei smiled at him. 

“Take it as a thank you for earlier.” He walked past.

Judai had to suck in a sharp breath.

Oh boy. There was no doubting _ that _emotion pounding in his chest.

Someone cried. He turned and looked, realizing he was walking by the slave wagon. He moved up to the back of it, opening the flap. The people inside flinched away as the light crossed their feet. He smiled up to them softly. 

“It’s alright,” he promised. “We’re not going to hurt you. We’re with the Junk Warriors…” Each of them looked at each other and a round of relieved voices rose. The woman sitting next to him reached down, gently touching his hand.

“Are you really,” she asked. He nodded. 

“Yep. We’re going to get you out of here and some place safe.” He flinched when he heard a loud metallic clank behind him. “Give us a bit to handle the rest of these guys and we’ll get you out of here.” He ducked out of the wagon again. Yusei was right. His guys were good and they’d already taken out at least half of the men that had remained and only a few were left. Judai looked up to see Yusei returning to him. He smiled.

“Shall we? Rally’s got Johan up top.” Judai nodded. 

“Let’s. I don’t want to be a liar.” Yusei blinked but shrugged as he followed him back to the battle.

Battling with Judai felt like an eloquent dance. They moved in tandem with each other, blocking and guarding, no matter how many men came at the them. Honestly, Yusei didn’t even realize that they were battling half of the time; despite neither princes either having used their talents on the battlefield before, it was clear that he at least had practiced the basics. The dance lasted for several more minutes before all went quiet. They stood panting, looking around at the chaos that was mostly men laying there and six empty caravans around them. A cheer started slowly around the Junk Warriors. Yusei smiled and held out a hand. Judai returned the gesture and expression. 

He turned to his men, “Let’s get everyone home. We’re going to celebrate tonight!” The men cheered louder. “I’ll go get Rally and Johan. We all deserve a break.”

Judai nodded dumbly. He started to follow but stopped again. Smiling, he went to the wagon and pulled the curtain back again. “We did it,” he breathed.

The people cheered.

Judai had never felt so alive before.

*****

The fire roared high into the sky. The people in the circle clapped along to the music, cheering in their happiness. Yusei smiled as he watched. Children mimicked the adults and partners danced around the fire; Johan and Judai laughed and smiled, twirling around and completely revitalized from the day’s raid. 

Yusei drunk deep from his mug. 

Judai eyed him, a smile on his face. He skipped up, offering a hand. Yusei smiled but shook his head, “I’m not much of a dancer.” 

“Johan went to sit down and I have to have a partner. Besides, it looked like you know the basics.” Yusei blinked but snickered, finally conceding and giving him his hand. 

They spun around the fire a bit. It warmed his face on such a cool night. Everyone cheered seeing him finally getting up to dance; they clapped louder and played the music just a bit faster for the leader of the Junk Warriors. 

When the final note rang, Yusei was out of breath. 

Judai laughed, “You’re not so bad twinkle toes.” Yusei narrowed his eyes.

“Har-har.” 

Before he could say anything else, a group of kids swarmed Judai, a lot of them the ones from the caravan earlier, and they hugged him. Judai lost his balance. He fell backwards like he had earlier that day and he continued to laugh while they hugged him. 

Yusei couldn’t help but feel a sense of… home was the closest he could describe it as. 

He walked past Nerve as he left the firelight, patting him on the shoulder, “My turn for guard duty.” Nerve raised an eyebrow as he went. 

A few moments later, he followed, wondering what was going on in their great leader’s mind.


	6. The White Knight

Rex Goodwin sat behind his desk, looking at the document his assistant Yeager had left for him but there was no focusing on this information.

Something had attacked the barrier.

This was troubling to him. No one had tried to attack the barrier since its creation; in fact, nothing in this world as of right now could touch it. Which meant something of the other world had to have approached it.

"Of course it was something from the other world," a childish voice chuckled.

He looked from the corner of his eyes to the shadows that sat behind him. He knew they were there but he did not acknowledge their choice to remain hidden, "I am aware of that."

"Then stop acting," a more aggressive voice snapped, "like you don't know who would've sent that attack. You know it was those bandits. Those... Junk Warriors living out in the forest." There was a loud resounding bang, probably as the speaker slammed his hand against the wall as he was fit to normally do. "You have to attack them! Put an end to those annoying pests!"

"Calm down," an older, wizened voice cut in. Despite being older and bit softer, this voice demanded respect which immediately stopped the much more aggressive voice. "We cannot attack them foolishly. We have let them behave as they will for this long; to attack suddenly would give them more information than they are worthy to hear."

"But," the childish voice cut in again, "He's right. We can't let them continue on. They're going to ruin all of our plans."

There was a moment of silence before the older voice continued with, "We will not allow them to continue. Their leader this... Yusei Fudo. He is dangerous. More dangerous than ever since he is now of age...."

Rex frowned. "Do not worry. There are few that know of him. He will not be a danger in that regard but I have received more troubling news than that." He held up the document he was reading. "Our spies inform me that the Junk Warriors have taken two hostages: Prince Judai of the Neo Kingdom and Prince Johan of the Northern Kingdom." He stood from his seat, placing his hands behind his back as he walked towards the door, "Gentlemen, I do believe we have a reason to put an end to the Junk Warriors and I know just the person appropriate enough for the job."

The shadows only chuckled in response.

*****

"Are you really going to let those two just stay here," a voice asked. Yusei turned his head to look over at Nerve. He was standing on one of the upper walls that stood as their defenses; it was his turn for look-out after all. Plus, he needed a break from the party below. It was a good excuse. He chuckled.

"I wasn't planning on it but, you've got to admit, they've been a big help." Nerve shook his head. The two princes had proven themselves to be quite interesting. At times, they would speak with the authority of princes but then they would turn, playing with the children with ease. It was easy to see how young they were; they made everyone around them smile easily with their silly antics. But there was something equally disturbing to them. At times, he had seen them talking to the air, softly like they wished for no one to hear them before they would reach up and pet nothing before turning to rejoin the rest of the camp. They had been willing to help unlike the other royals he had seen coming out of New Domino at any point of time; those ones had been... less than pleasant experiences. Nerve leaned on the wall next to him. "It's... nice having them around."

"Nice, sure," Nerve mused. "But Yusei... aren't we asking for trouble?"

He hesitated, "I know. I get the feeling Goodwin knows that they're here."

"Do you think he'll try to use that for any reason? We have been throwing a pretty big kink in his slave trade...."

"If he does, it'll be to justify a raid on us."

"Right but the only question is when?"

Yusei looked up. The moon was large and bright and his eyes softened, "I don't know but we should probably put all guard rotations on high alert just in case of...."

The wall rocked. Screams rose up in tandem with the giant plume of smoke and fire that came from the gates leading into the camp. The two of them braced against the wooden railings before running to the other side to assess the damage. People were running in all directions. Nerve gritted his teeth.

"Guess we got our answer."

"Go find Rally and the others. Start the evacuation. Get as many people out of here as you can." Yusei reached to his hip and pulled out his sword, with no doubt in his mind who had caused the explosion. Nerve caught his arm. The two shared a serious look.

"Be careful," he cautioned, "If it is him...." Yusei smirked.

"Don't worry. I'll be sure to give him a big punch in the face."

Nerve snickered, "Never thought you'd do anything less." The two went separate directions. Yusei ran down into the fray, pushing past the frantic people who were running away; he directed them quickly to the rear of the camp and out the second entrance. As he got closer to the explosion, he could see several things at once.

The first thing was that not everyone was fleeing: several of the men who had once been fighters back on the island now held swords and shields, what little they'd been able to scrape together from their raids on the slave caravans. They were entangled with several soldiers dressed in the blue armor of the Kingdom of New Domino. Metal clashed on metal. Arrows flew from some archers that had positioned themselves on the higher parts of the walls. Yusei called for a couple of the teams to swarm the walls and clear them off; several men acknowledged his orders and ran immediately to try and reclaim the high ground. He grabbed a passing man's arm and shouted, "Take a group of men along the outside. Clear the middle as much as we can. Try to encircle them as much as possible." The man nodded and ran to do this. Several groups backed off and started going around. Only a small handful of warriors remained in the middle and his heart dropped when he spotted them.

Judai and Johan stood back to back, their swords at the ready. They moved in beautiful, perfect tandem, almost like in a dance again. Yusei felt himself staring in a moment of reprieve and he wondered how nobody else could stop and stare. Judai swung at an opponent, locking swords before raising a foot to disengage them. He dropped his foot to steady himself only to raise it again to make sure they wouldn't get back up. Another soldier tried to attack him from behind. Johan smacked the attacking weapon away with his own weapon. The second man went down in a second when Johan brought his hilt up against his cheek faster than anyone watching would have expected.

The invaders seemed to think better of attacking them.

Judai used the moment to wink at Johan and he playfully, and quickly, gave him a peck on the cheek as he moved around Johan to stop someone who had gotten brave. Yusei blinked.

Oh. They were actually that close.

Kind of a funny thing to learn in the middle of battle.

He turned to block a sword before turning and kicking a second guy in the gut, sending him backwards. Yusei sent the other guy down by disengaging his sword and slashing downwards hard on the man's shoulder. He didn't stay long on the sight.

The two sides seemed to be evenly matched. Yusei took a moment to look around, realizing that most if not all of their people had moved around to the outsides as he ordered. Which was good considering the real trouble had yet to appear yet and knowing him he was going to wait until...

A giant explosion rocked the ground. Everyone staggered as another giant plume rose from its origin point; only… that was not the only thing that appeared.

Wings that seemed to darken the sky appeared first. They were black with red, leathery-skin pulled between them and they pushed the body of the most menacing dragon anyone had ever seen before; with each powerful stroke, the smoke melted away in tendrils of gray. It’s head was rimmed by three massive horns. It’s body was black and red, as if made directly from fire and ash itself. The devil was proud to own such a magnificent beast. 

“Run,” someone shouted, “It’s the Archfiend!”

Fiend was such an accurate description. 

It looked around at the camp before letting out a mighty roar. Anyone who was too close, ended being knocked backwards by the wing-flap that accompanied the sound. 

Yusei, Judai, and Johan stayed on their feet. The three of them rose, swords at the ready as they regrouped. 

“Who’s Dragon is that,” Judai asked. 

“There’s only one person,” Yusei gritted through his teeth. “That could own a dragon like that in all of New Domino.” 

The distinct sound of hooves hitting the earth cut him short. Yusei glued his eyes to the bottom of the smoke and fire plume, readying his sword for the man he knew was going to appear. Judai and Johan, still a bit confused, mimicked his action. 

He appeared wearing all white. Every each of his amour glowed an eerie sight in the flames and starlight, giving him a ghostly appearance. It matched well with his equally white horse and completely contradicted the fiery behemoth behind him. Red Dragon Archfiend bowed its head to its bounded. Yusei gritted his teeth. His fists white knuckled onto the hilt of his sword. Johan and Judai shared a concerned glance but they didn’t have much time to dwell on the situation as the knight approached them. His horse stopped about twenty feet away. 

The creature pawed the ground. Its rider dismounted. He walked forward several more feet before stopping in front of the three of them. 

“Jack Atlas,” Yusei tightly greeted, “The White Knight of New Domino kingdom. To what do I owe the pleasure of a raid this late at night?” 

“Pretend to be ignorant to someone else,” Jack snapped. He reached up, releasing the clasp on his helmet so that he could pull it off. He had shockingly light hair and a sharp face; his eyes were strong as were most of the features he had. To say that he was intimidating was an understatement. The two princes raised their swords a bit more. Jack glanced at both of them. “It’s not like you to have bodyguards.” 

“They’re not bodyguards, they’re my friends,” Yusei returned. Jack snickered.

“Yes, yes. Here we go again with your friends are your life. Could you save it for someone who actually cares?” He pulled his sword from his hip. “Now, I do believe I will be taking both of your said friends with me. Prince Judai? Prince Johan? His majesty would like to have you both safely returned and this miscreant dealt with appropriately.” 

“We refuse,” Judai snapped. 

“The only miscreant we know is Goodwin himself,” Johan returned. Jack’s face tightened. 

“You will not speak ill of our kingdom….”

“Then tell your kingdom,” Judai coolly replied, “to stop selling innocent people into slavery!”

Something flashed across the white knight’s face. Confusion. It dawned on Johan that Jack… didn’t know. He didn’t know about the people being stolen from the Satellite and sold off to foreign lands. 

The moment passed quickly. Jack raised his sword, “Stop your lies. Now, your majesties, you have two options: You can come with me willingly or we can do this the hard way.” Archfiend growled lowly behind his master. 

“What are we going to do,” Johan whispered for the other two, never taking his eyes off the beast or his bounded, “We don’t stand any kind of a chance without dragons of our own!”

“We’ll think of something…” Yusei promised.

Judai gripped his sword tighter. 

But he nearly dropped it when a burning sensation came from his chest. He hissed and winced but stayed strong. Yusei eyed him. “You okay?”

“Something,” he panted, “Something’s coming.” 

The other two didn’t get a chance to ask.

It was like both sound and air was sucked completely from that moment. Everything stood in a heavy silence which felt like an eternity but turned into mere seconds in a woosh of air and a high pitched whistle. They grunted, dropping to their knees and covering their ears. Jack and Archfiend flinched but did not fall. 

Jack’s eyes went wide, “What in the world is that?” 

They turned. Hovering behind them was a tall, swirling vortex of black. It sparked with electricity. Judai felt something cold coming from it but… he felt drawn to it like something was pulling him in. 

Then it really was.

A giant, black hand emerged from it, rearing up and casting a menacing shadow over the three of them in the firelight. Judai shrunk back. Yusei and Johan dropped their swords a bit in surprise. The hand dropped. Two of them jumped out of the way. The third, who was Judai, started to get out of the way but the hand came down too quickly. It wrapped itself around him, pinning his arms and legs to his side, his sword falling to the ground. He screamed. Electricity hit every part of him. It was like the hand wanted him to not resist, to weaken him, and it worked. 

"Judai," Johan screamed. The hand pulled back to the portal and, without thinking, he ran after it. 

He couldn't lose Judai. 

Johan managed to get a grip on one of the fingers and he dug his heels in as he pulled back, preventing it from leaving as quickly as it had been. He grunted. He refused to let go even as the hand released another round of electricity. "You're not taking him away," he growled. 

The hand tugged. He almost fell.

A second pair of hands appeared then, helping to stop the hand's departure. Johan looked up, surprised. Yusei had one eye closed against the pain as another round of electricity shot out of it, trying to shake off it's captors. Johan felt relieved because of the help. They grunted as they pulled back. 

The hand rose up again. Both of them were lifted in the air, with their feet dangling. 

It shook. 

Both of them tightened their grip. 

When it realized that neither of them was going to let go, the hand stilled. 

Then it shot backwards to the portal. 

Jack Atlas had mere seconds to respond. He raised a hand, a futile attempt to stop what was happening, "Wait!"

They were gone in an instant. Darkness swallowed them whole. 


	7. Into the Wilds

They were falling. 

Yusei had mere moments to reach out to grab for both of them, wrapping both princes in his arms and turning so his back was facing the world. His eyes looked up to crystal blue skies. 

How beautiful. 

Time slowed in his mind, the last few minutes replaying like a slow, funeral dirge: They had been in the tunnel the portal lead too. It was nauseating. Like the portal, the tunnel was a mix of swirling black and brown. Judai was passed out. The electricity had been too much for his body to handle, he slumped against his captor. Neither he nor Johan let go despite the pain. It shook and slammed them into the swirling walls but still they refused to not let go. Johan, gritting his teeth, let go with his left hand, shoving up his sleeve on his right arm to reveal the marks again. He struggled to press his fingers to one of them, an amber colored jewel. Yusei could be sworn there was a rush of cold air but he quickly forgot it as a literal  _ mammoth _ appeared out of nowhere; he hadn't doubted Johan's ability in the slightest, not since he'd been such a big help on the previous evening, but seeing him actually summoning one of his beasts in front of him was breathtaking. 

It easily kept pace with the hand. In one fell swoop, the mammoth slammed hard into it, causing the fingers to loosen. 

Judai fell. 

Yusei cried out but before he could do anything, it reached down to scoop him up with his trunk. He released a sigh of relief. 

Johan nodded towards the beast, "Jump!" 

The both of them did, grabbing on to the side of the mammoth's hairy back. They crawled up so they could sit on top and secure Judai in place when he was gently handed off to them. The mammoth looked back at them from the corner of its eye. 

"Hang on," it ordered. Johan and Yusei braced themselves as it peeled away the hand, slamming hard into the tunnel wall.

It shattered.

There was a bright light and a rush of air. 

Yusei closed his eyes against the brightness. When he managed to open them, he found himself looking out onto a land that could only be described as barren. There was nothing but sand for as far as the eye could see and he immediately recognized the shape of a jagged, winding canyon below them. When he looked backwards, the tunnel and the hand were both gone and he was able to breathe a momentary sigh of relief. 

That was, until Johan slumped.

The mammoth turned its head a bit, "Our connection is fading. We need to get to land!"

He'd squeezed Johan shoulder. He'd tried to wake him. Nothing worked. 

Which is how he found himself falling with two unconscious princes tucked under his arms.

_ There were probably worse ways to die. I just wish I could've finished what I started. _

Yusei closed his eyes and waited for death to come.

…

Except, that it didn't. 

He landed into something hard but the actual landing was much more gentler than he expected. A shadow loomed in his sight. He twisted his head and was surprised to find that he was now in the arms of an impressive looking dragon: it was mostly black but he could see the glimmer of bright red jewels up and down its body. It rumbled lowly in its throat. Yusei swallowed. Maybe they weren't going to be a snack? 

The dragon twisted so that it could fly on a straight path, down towards the edge of the canyon where, as they got closer, Yusei could see the form of someone waiting. The person was wearing a tan riding cloak that masked all of their features but he waved towards the dragon and it went to him without question. It was only as they were closer did he see the bright red mark on the person's hand which showed that the two were actually bounded, dragon and human. It landed softly next to them, letting Yusei jump safely to the ground. 

"Thank goodness Gandora was able to reach you in time," the stranger said. Yusei gently laid the princes on the ground before standing at the approaching figure. They were a good one to two heads shorter than himself but from the way they spoke, they sounded like they were older than him. Still young though. Late twenties then? The stranger reached up and pulled off his hood, revealing a shock of black and purple hair, blonde bangs, and wide amethyst colored eyes. He smiled at Yusei. "The name's Yugi. It looks like you three are in a bit of trouble."

"You could say that," Yusei agreed. "I'm Yusei Fudo." He held out a hand and something flashed across Yugi's face.

"The Junk Warriors' leader? It's an honor." He shook his hand. Yusei blinked.

"You've… heard of me?"

"Word travels quick on the wind. Let's not talk here. It's not safe. If we can get your friends to my home, I can protect you three for right now." He motioned to Gandora who huffed but bent down to scoop up the two princes. Yugi motioned in a direction and Yusei followed willingly.

*****

Dawn rose quickly. 

The darkened sky lightened into a fiery orange and Yusei rubbed at his eyes, weariness sagging his whole body. A mug appeared in his face. He looked up at Yugi, who had tied his hair back. He looked just as tired as he did. Yusei took it.

"Thanks."

"You're welcome," Yugi said. He sat across from him in a wicker chair and he took a sip before continuing with, "The good news is that both of them are going to be alright. They're pretty beat up and they'll definitely be sore but they'll live."

Yusei sat back in the chair, "Thank you Yugi." 

He took a sip from his mug before sitting it on the table between them. His face twisted. "It's no problem. Everyone has to help each other out here; next village is a good three to four day ride by horseback. Two with a dragon." He placed his fingers in front of his face as he stared into his mug. "But, I think we have some bigger concerns. Your story has some pretty big red flags and I hate to say it but… it sounds like New Domino is prepping for something big. I'd hate to think that it would affect any of the other kingdoms but the slavery on top of Zero Reverse… and then that hand that dragged you here…. They're all connected. I can feel it."

"Yeah but the question is how," Yusei asked. 

"I doubt we're going to be able to figure it out that easily," Yugi chuckled. "But it's an interesting puzzle isn't it?" He paused. "One thing that makes it easier at least is the fact that those two are marked. It'll be great to have the additional fire power if we run into any more trouble…."

"Wait. You're saying Judai's marked too?" 

Yugi blinked. "Yeah. You didn't know that?" He motioned to his chest, right above his heart, "It's here. Diamond shape. Yellow. Red circle in the middle."

"I… I didn't know it," he mused. There hadn't been time to be honest. He'd seen Johan's and they'd taken the time to talk but Judai… Judai hid things. He used his smile to ward everyone off; there was sometimes a flash of sadness and more but they hadn't talked. After all, it had only been a week since they'd first arrived in his camp…. "So that makes all three of us," he said absently. 

"You're marked too." He looked up at Yugi who stared at him with knowing eyes. He wasn't curious. He knew. 

Yusei nodded. He took off the leather gloves he often wore and rolled up the sleeve on his left arm. His dragon mark was delicate. It was thin and silver, shaped like a star that was encircled by thin twisting lines. Yugi leaned closer. "It's beautiful. Your dragon will be graceful but strong." 

"Thank you," he breathed. Yugi's eyes narrowed. 

"You've got another one. I sense two marks on you." 

"Wh-what?" Yusei reeled back a bit, surprised by his sudden words, a slight flush on his face. 

Yugi tisked, "Now I know you haven't bonded with either dragon; if you did, you'd know how strong our magical senses get. Each mark is created through magic. The bond between dragon and human. Not every human gets a dragon; it's rare in fact because dragons are now rare." Yugi stood. He moved over to one of the bookshelves Yusei had noticed in the home. He looked for a second, skimming his fingers over the spines carefully, before stopping and grabbing one and bringing it back over to him, offering. 

The cover was old and faded. There was no title or author but it was lined with a bit of gold on the binding. He looked it over for a few seconds before opening the cover to read the first page, reading quickly over some of the information, before asking, "Is this…?"

"As complete of a history as we can expect," Yugi confirmed. "A lot of the information is missing but I think that'll give you some idea about bonding." He smiled softly. "Look it over when you can but let's get back to the topic at hand. I'd like to see that second mark of yours if you don't mind. It's rare to have one dragon, let alone two."

Yusei set the book down beside him before rolling up the sleeve on his right arm. Yugi leaned close. His eyes went wide. 

"I've had this one since birth," Yusei explained. 

Yugi looked up. The red mark that almost looked like the tail end of an arrow looked oddly familiar….

"I've seen this before," he mused. Yugi moved again, back to the bookshelf, but after several minutes of searching, he hadn't found what he wanted. He landed back on his heels with a huff. He turned to Yusei. "Can you do me a favor? There's a bucket of fish in the kitchen. Can you take it take to Gandora? If I'm not done searching before noon, she needs to be brushed down with the broom that's out there and rinsed with water. She gets fed again at sundown."

"Wh-what…"

"And if you can, take her on a quick flight around the mountain when she gets twitchy. Thanks!"

… And that was that. Yusei didn’t even get the chance to protest; Yugi disappeared into another room, shutting the door with a slam. He had no choice but to drop his hand and sigh. With no other choice, he stood, going to the kitchen.

*****

Gandora growled lowly.

Yusei frowned, holding up the bucket of fish as proof that he wasn’t there to start any problems. Her head rose up a bit higher. The growling got quiet. “That’s a good girl. Yugi’s holed up in a room doing some research. He asked me to take care of you today.”

Gandora huffed, as if to say,  _ Of course he did. This isn’t the first time. _ Yusei smirked. He reached into the bucket and offered a fish. The dragon eyed him before leaning her head forward, nipping the handle of the bucket in her teeth. Yusei recoiled quickly, “Hey!”

She huffed again.  _ Not that way. This way _ . It set the bucket on the ground before tipping it over, spilling fish in a line in front of her crossed legs. Yusei chuckled, “Okay, okay. I’ll remember that for next time.” Another huff before she ducked her head, smacking happily on the food. Yusei grabbed the bucket. He scratched his head, “Yugi said to give you a brush down at noon. We’ve got a little time before that. I’ll just… head inside until then.” He started for the stable door but Gandora lashed out with her tail, blocking the way. He almost fell backwards. “What’s the big idea?” 

She raised its head again. Most of the fish were already gone and it slammed its tail down, huffing in the process. “Are… Do you want me to stay here?” The dragon’s lips twisted into a toothy grin.

Well… as close to a gin as it could be.

Yusei took a seat on the bucket which he overturned, “You know, there are nicer ways to ask someone to eat with you.”

Gandora didn’t respond as it went back to eating. Yusei sighed. His eyes wandered over the modest stable, at least making notes of where everything was so he could continue his assigned chores later. The silence stretched. Only the sound of fish bones being crushed rang out in the room. Silence didn’t bother Yusei; he was accustomed to it from the many hours he pulled at night making sure the camp was okay, despite how hard his friends’ fought to get him in bed at a decent hour.

His friends.

Jack must’ve taken them hostage….

At least, that’s what he hoped. 

“I hope they’re alright,” he said aloud. “I have to get them back.”

A huff. He woke from his revery in just enough time to catch the snout of the black dragon moving towards his chest. He rocked a bit before steadying. Gandora… purred??? Maybe purr was too generous of a word. It was more of a low, broken rumble. Yusei laughed. He ran a hand up and down Gandora’s snout, leaning his head down, whispering, “Thank-you.” She huffed again. Yusei recoiled, this time, actually falling, “Ugh! Fish breath!”

Gandora chuckled. 

Her snout slipped from his grasp as she stood, shaking her shoulders and stretching her wings as far as she could in the slightly small stable. She nodded towards the door.  _ Follow me. _

Yusei shook his head, shaking out some straw, “You are a demanding dragon.”

She huffed,  _ And you wouldn’t be if you were me? _

“Fair enough,” he smirked. The two of them walked outside. The sun was high but not at the noon position yet. Yusei raised a hand to shade his eyes while Gandora completed her stretch; much like a cat, she leaned her front half-down, stretching her legs out as far as they could go while arching her back end into the air. She shook once she straightened. The last thing she stretched were her wings which she opened all the way. Gandora shook her head.

“What are we doing exactly,” Yusei asked. Gandora smirked again before laying down and dropping her shoulder.

_ We’re flying _ .

Yusei blinked. Gandora huffed again.  _ Come on. Let’s go. ...Unless you’re scared. _

“I’m not scared,” Yusei returned, reaching to climb on, “and, for the record, you didn’t have to challenge me. I would’ve gotten on any way.” Gandora rolled her eyes. He adjusted into a comfortable position, gripping tightly to one of her spines. “Alright, I’m good.”

Gandora nodded. It opened her wings again. She raised them up, casting him a bit of shade momentarily, before stroking down powerfully.

Yusei breathed in deep. There was something exciting about seeing the ground shrinking away from them and the sky growing closer. There was a drop in the pit of his stomach but he felt ethereal, surreal. Cool wind rushed over them but it wasn’t unpleasant in the heat of the wasteland. He took the chance to appreciate the brilliant view. Gandora let him. 

The land changed depending on which way you looked. To the West was a mountain range with a sparse decoration of forest; at the top was a clear line of snow. To the South was dark ground that looked like even the most fertile of life would struggle to survive in. He knew the land was referred to as the Waste but he never knew why until that moment. The East was desert. Nothing but desert for as far as his eyes could see. Behind him, to the North, was the rocky terrain that they had flown from the day before. Yusei’s breath was taken away at the sight. It was clear that this was the convergent point; Yugi had chosen a well placed location to aid any travellers that may be heading in one direction or the other and to pick up supplies that he need to survive otherwise. After a few minutes of looking, Gandora moved her wings. They flew forward easily, cutting through the air with a powerful grace. This was nothing like the dare-devil races he used to run in the Satellite; this was a different form of exhilarating.

His heart soared. 

He couldn’t wait to meet his own dragon partner.


	8. Awake

Judai bolted straight up in bed. Sweat dotted his forehead. It took a minute for him to comprehend where he was. He was in a bed… in a room he didn’t recognize. Of all the possible options- his room, the Academy, the New Domino Facility- none matched. He looked around the sparsely decorated place before throwing the blanket he was under off to stagger towards the door. He felt so weak. 

So very weak….

A crash interrupted his thoughts. He flung the door open and headed down the hall, towards the sound. He came out upon an open kitchen area complete with exactly one countertop that was used for both food prep and eating. A stone hearth behind it roared and the smell of a hearty stew wafted to his nose. More importantly, a cloud of flour came his way and his cough joined the others that he heard. When the air cleared, it was easy to see what had happened. Johan had accidentally dropped a bag of flour while making what looked like a couple of loaves of bread. Yusei and another man who had been busy stirring the stew, blinked and wiped at their faces to clear some of it away.

“Talk about flour power,” he joked.

The three of them froze. Johan quickly cleared his eyes so he could take in the sight of Judai standing before them, looking a little worse for wear, but otherwise, okay. He bolted around the counter, catching him in the tightest of hugs. Judai hugged him back.

“Glad to see you up and moving,” Yusei said as he walked up to them. “You’ve been out for three days now.” Judai’s grip tightened. No wonder Johan was hugging him so tightly.

He looked up and started to say something but Johan stopped him by taking his face in his hands. He kissed him. Hard.

It tasted like flour.

“Well that explains why were so anxious,” the fourth voice said. They broke a part for a few seconds. The man who was decidedly older but shorter than the three of them, raised a hand in greeting, “I’m Yugi Muto. I’m glad to see you up on your feet at last.”

“Don’t you dare scare me like that ever again,” Johan ordered. Judai rubbed the back of his head.

“Love you too,” he replied. “How did we end up here anyway?”

“And that is a long story,” Yugi replied. “I’ll finish up the bread loaves so they can rest for a bit. Why don’t you finish the stew Yusei while Johan cleans up? Take a seat over there Judai; you’re probably feeling a bit low on energy. Dinner’ll help with that.”

It was only after he said it that Judai realized how tired he was. The four broke apart to go to their respective locations. He sank into the couch, revealing in the feeling of rest and he found himself fighting his fluttering eyes.

Something wet hit his cheek. He jolted, surprised again, and he found Johan grinning down at him while holding a wet cloth in his hand. 

“Oh no you don’t,” he teased. “You just woke up. No going back to sleep for you mister.”

“Come on Johan,” he whined. “I’m tired.”

Johan leaned over the back of the furniture, peppering little kisses around his face. Judai blinked at him breathlessly when he finally pulled away. Johan smirked.

“You awake now?”

“Maybe. Might need a few more of those to be sure….”

“Too bad you’ll have to suffice with dinner instead,” Yugi called. “Both of you quit trying to have sex on my couch and come eat.” Three sets of faces went red at his remarks. Yugi laughed, “I may be a hermit but I’m definitely not dead. Now, come on. We can talk over food.” Johan offered Judai a hand and they quickly joined the other two so that, at the least, they didn’t have to endure any other embarrassment Yugi could throw at them.

A big bowl of rice and stew was placed in front of Judai. His stomach rumbled again. As they started eating, he asked, “What happened? How did we end up here? For that matter, where is  _ here _ ?”

“We were trying to defend the camp,” Yusei explained, tearing off a piece of bread, “When a portal opened up behind us. A giant hand grabbed you and knocked you out with lightning.”

“We tried to stop it,” Johan added, “But we got pulled in too.”

“Right,” Yusei continued, “Johan managed to summon one of the Crystal beasts….”

“Amber.”

“... to help us out. It was only thanks to Amber that we were able to do any kind of damage and get away. Johan collapsed and since he wasn’t able to hold the connection, we ended up falling. Thankfully, Yugi and Gandora were in the area and able to help.”

Judai swallowed his bite of food, “Gandora? Who’s that?”

“My bounded dragon,” Yugi explained. “Really, it’s her you should be thanking. She noticed the trouble first and raced to get to you guys.” He eyed Yusei to see if he should continue and he nodded, “Which brought you three to me. You were pretty banged up but I think whatever attacked you only wanted to knock you out. I didn’t see any major damage on the outside but we still should get you checked out with a real doctor… just be safe mind you.” 

“Oh,” Judai muttered.

“I’m more of a historian and game enthusiast; medical knowledge is not my speciality.”

“Where is the nearest doctor,” Yusei asked. “I didn’t see one earlier when I was flying with Gandora.”

Yugi chewed his food thoughtfully. “In terms of a dragon flight, four days east of here.” He sat back, placing his spoon into his bowl and crossing his arms. “Gandora’s strong but with four riders, we can probably expect to double that time.” He paused. A look of uneasiness crossed his features but it was momentary. He continued with, “We need to go there anyway. I… I have an old friend there who can help us. Being bonded means that we have access to a little bit of magic but they…they’ve mastered it. They’ve got their own technique. I’m sure they’ll be able to give us some answers about what’s going on.” He paused. “It’s all too… convenient. Too perfectly placed. They’ll be able to help us find your three dragons since I get the very bad feeling that a big storm is about to hit. We’re going to need all the power we can get.”

“That’s probably a good idea,” Johan agreed. “New Domino has to have some magical powers. After all, they have a spirit barrier which is itself unusual and then there’s that thing that pulled us through the portal.”

“I…” Judai started. The other three looked at him and he nervously licked his lips. “You’re going to call me crazy but I think that thing was after me… and is connected to my dragon.” Their eyes went wide. Judai shifted. “I can’t prove it but….”

“You felt it, right,” Yugi asked. “The draw? Like if you touch it, you’ll be whole again?” 

“That’s what I felt,” he confirmed. Yugi gently touched his chin.

“Then something either has your dragon,” he mused, “or your dragon has somehow become corrupted. I would imagine the only reason it hasn’t tried to take you again is because of the amount of magic it had to use to drag the three of you through the portal. It didn’t account for that or having to battle the crystal beast… It just wasn’t ready.”

“Then that means we should probably head out soon, right?”

“Not tonight. It’s late. We boarder bandit land- no offense,” he nodded to Yusei who waved him off, “The Wastes and a desert. We’ll have to all be on our toes and ready for anything. We’ll pack tomorrow. We head out at dawn on the day after.”

The three of them nodded.

It finally felt like they had a plan after all the chaos they’d been through.

*****

Jack looked down at the piece of parchment in his hands then back up at the building. It was a printing press shop. It was here that most of the king’s announcements were made and the local paper was published. It was the biggest, most popular one in the kingdom. He didn’t hesitate. He opened the door. 

The room was covered in mint green wallpaper. Sitting behind the counter in the wide room he walked into, was a woman with glasses. Her face was kind of roundish but she clearly had a bit of charm about her. Jack approached the counter. She looked up from her work, then stood, approaching him with a smile. 

“Hello there,” she greeted. “I’m afraid the shop is closed, sir.”

“I need to speak with the owner,” he demanded, not allowing her to keep talking. She pursed her lips.

“The owner has already retired for the evening. May I take a message instead?”

Jack slammed his hands on the counter, “I don’t have time to leave a message. Just go wake him up and bring him down here.”

“I said we are closed,” she said tightly, “You will have. To. leave. A. message.” 

“Would you  _ please _ just go get him? This is important!”

“I will not! Leave a message or get out you stubborn…..”

“My, my. What is all this fuss,” a voice cut in. They turned to find an older man with sea-foam colored hair and a mustache standing in the doorway. Behind him were twin sets of eyes staring at the two of them. Jack balked. Twins. He had twin children.

She immediately became flustered, bowing to him with a quick, “I’m so sorry sir! This man was insisting that he see you.” He held up a hand.

“Thank-you Carly,” he soothed. “You’ve done enough. Please don’t stay too long working tonight. I need you here bright and early to print the new newspaper.” She nodded. He turned back to Jack. “Now, sir, you are Sir Jack Atlas are you not?” Three sets of eyes rose in shock.

“Really? He’s Jack Atlas? The White Knight?” Jack’s eyes dropped to one of the twins, the boy, who was looking up at him in deep admiration. Jack kept his stoney expression.

“I am.” He pulled out another piece of parchment, handing it to him. “I need a little bit of investigating done. It’s too dangerous to ask the guards to do it.” The old man straightened a bit as he read the paper. He held it too high for the kids to read but when Carly moved to read over his shoulder, he didn’t recoil from her, and it was alright. They read in silence for a few minutes. Her face paled. The shock and fear made her pale as her eyes went wide; Carly covered her mouth with a hand. The owner looked at him. 

“This is a very dangerous accusation,” he cautioned, “And you’ll be putting my family in danger because of this.” Jack nodded.

“I know and I’m sorry but….” His fists tightened, white-knuckled as he bowed, “I’m begging you for help. I can’t investigate- I’m too close to the heart of this but I need to know the truth.” he pointed to Carly. “Use her. They probably won’t notice her.” 

“I think that’s a good thing,” the twin girl whispered to Carly, calming her anger a bit. Jack readjusted his jacket. 

“I don’t expect you to do this without payment. I’ll give you what I can.” He eyed Carly. His expression was a challenge as were his words, “This is the article of a century.” 

She started to say something but the owner stepped in the way.

“We thank-you for this offer,” he answered. “But we will turn it down. Goodnight sir.” Jack started to bristle until he remembered what he had just asked them to do. He adjusted his hat this time. He bowed once more then turned and left without another word.


	9. Journey

Yugi tightened the last bag onto Gandora’s side. He gently patted her neck, smiling apologetically to her. “I know it’s going to be heavy with all this but if we can make it to that place, you know they’ll spoil you.”

Gandora huffed,  _ Then we should’ve never left _ .

“You know why we did,” he breathed. His hands stopped on the harness and Gandora turned her head a bit. Yugi’s eyes were narrowed, drooping a bit at the corners. “I just… let’s just hope I can handle seeing him again.” Gandora turned so that her head could go behind him, giving him the equivalent of a dragon hug. He leaned into her neck. “Thank-you.”

“Everything alright Yugi,” Johan asked. The two of them looked up, finding the three others standing there, each carrying their own little knapsacks he’d given them. He smiled to them.

“It’s nothing. Are you three ready to go?” They nodded. He pointed out to the East, towards the desert sands. “We’ll try to find somewhere to camp out and let Gandora rest. We have a cover incase we don’t find anything.” He patted a long bundle on Gandora’s side. “I doubt that we will.” Gandora puffed up at the compliment. Yugi rolled his eyes though when she wasn’t looking. “Be ready for sudden drops though. The sandstorms get fierce and come up out of the blue. If we don’t get into safety, we’ll be in a world of trouble.”

“Gotcha,” Judai replied. The three of them climbed on with Yugi at the front, then Judai, Johan, and Yusei. When everyone stopped moving, Gandora spread her wings and pushed off into the air.

Only the shadows watched. 

*****

Carly squinted hard into the sunlight. She hadn’t slept a wink last night, haunted by the words on Jack’s paper.

_ The Kingdom of New Domino is selling its own people into slavery. They have been since Zero Reverse. However… reports from informants and the people of Satellite report that the numbers are not matching up. Something else is happening to the people who are kidnapped from there.  _

It was a lot to take in. There was a lot of  _ implications _ in the statement that were dangerous on their own but questions had plagued her sleep too much to actually let her sleep.

First of all, why the Satellite? Goodwin had promised to reunite the two parts of the kingdom when she was younger but never actually… did anything about it from what she could recall; she’d lived her whole life here too and she was sure her memory wasn’t that faulty. She had been too young to actually remember the actually Zero Reverse event. Something was off about that question and the results but she’d come back to it later. 

Second, where were the people going? Were they even disappearing in the first place? The only way to confirm either of those was to either find a reliable source from the Island itself or to go there and since she didn’t know how safe that second option was, she was better off looking for someone from there, here. 

“Just how am I going to find someone from the Satellite to ask questions of…?” She blinked. Then it hit her. Of course! She could ask the fates! Carly reached into her hip pouch and pulled out her Fortune cards, a gift from her late parents. The cards hadn’t let her down just yet (they gave her the good news about her job before the boss even had the chance to welcome her). 

She took a breath.

First question: Should she be doing this?

Drawing a card revealed Lady Dark… upside down.

Okay so… that meant this was going to be a bad idea… at best. Maybe even dangerous.

She put the card back and shuffled again.

Second question: Where should she go to find a Satellite person?

She drew. Lady Earth, right side up. So… the forest?

“Why there,” she mused. “The only thing out there are….” She paused then smiled as it dawned on her, “The bandits! Of course! The Junk Warriors are rumored to be from the Satellite!” She kissed Lady Earth before sliding the card back into her deck, putting the full thing back as well. Carly turned. Her nose collided with something pretty solid and she stepped back, holding it. “I’m so sorry,” she exclaimed.

“Pardon me ma’am,” a deeply foreign accent said. She looked up. Several people stood in front of her but none of them looked like they were from New Domino. The one she’d run into, a man with a wide-brimmed hat and a vest on, smiled. The expression was not marred by the eye-patch he wore either. “We couldn’t help but overhear what you were talking about. We were wondering if you could give us a hand?”

Carly blinked. “Huh?”

A woman stepped forward. She had long blonde hair and sharp features but she smiled sweetly at her and Carly felt completely safe with her for some reason. “We’re looking for someone. Two people actually but we’re new to this area and we’ve been… concerned by some of the things we’ve been hearing. I think our two issues may be connected somehow. Maybe we can help each other?”

Carly bit her lip. Something told her they were right. She nodded. 

“Why don’t we go talk back at our place?” Carly turned, surprised. The boss’s twins, Lua and Luka, smiled up at the group.

“Lua! Luka! Why are you two here?”

“Forget it Carly,” Lua said. “We already know what’s going on. Luka’s friend read the note and we want to help.”

“We shouldn’t talk in the open,” Luka whispered. “There are ears and eyes all over the place. We should take the back alleys home.” The little girl pushed past the group, leading the way down the shaded pathway. Lua followed. The group of eight shrugged but then followed as ordered. 

*****

“Hang on! We’re going to land,” Yugi shouted over the wind. Johan leaned forward, helping to secure Judai into place. The wind had picked up suddenly and the four of them found themselves come face-to-face with a wall of flying sand. Just as Yugi had warned, they’d run into a sandstorm.

But something was off about it.

Gandora kept growling lowly in her chest. Yugi could feel her unease as she angled herself down towards the earth. He turned, shouting to them, “Something’s coming!” The wind picked up. Lightening erupted from the storm, keeping them from escaping. Gandora roared and angled back. They hovered in the middle of the storm. “Hang on!”

It struck out at them. It came fast like a whip and several at a time. Gandora dodged when she could. The four of them held on tightly for dear life. She roared. She was unable to attack; not with the four of them on her back at least. A bolt hit her tail. She roared in pain this time.

Yugi hissed. He could feel the pain in his lower back. His grasp started to slip.

Another strike. 

Another hit.

More pain.

The two of them screamed. 

Yugi finally let go.

Gandora roared.  _ Yugi! _ He was falling quickly to the wall of lightening below them. Before she could react, someone flew after him; she could feel the weight on her back lighten significantly.

“JUDAI!”

Judai gritted his teeth. He reached for Yugi, catching his hand. He pulled him close and twisted so that he would hit the wall first when they connected. He could see above them: Johan reaching for him, Yusei holding him on as he watched in horror at their fall. Gandora angling to fly down to them… He saw every detail as it was slowed down. Judai smiled softly. Johan was reaching for his other arm but neither Cobalt or Pegasus would fly faster than Gandora but….

Cobalt Eagle appeared in a puff of blue. Its time in the spirit world had done it good; it was healed completely. It streamlined itself, only marginally pulling ahead of Gandora. Judai gritted his teeth. He pushed Yugi away from himself a bit without letting go.

“Sorry Yugi,” he said. Judai angled himself so that he could spin, tossing him by the arms back towards the others. 

He fell farther away.

Gandora wrapped her claws around Yugi and slowed their decent.

“Grab him Cobalt,” Johan shouted. Judai smiled. They were too far apart. He looked to his left, saying something to the air. When he finished, he closed his eyes and waited for the impact, the sharp jolt that would be the end of his life.

It never came.

Gandora, Cobalt, Johan, and Yusei watched as a portal opened up underneath him and Judai was swallowed by the swirling darkness.

Everything went silent after that. Cobalt flew back up, having avoided the lightning seconds earlier. The wind faded and all of them had to squint in the sun’s return.

“I’m sorry Johan,” Cobalt said softly. “I wasn’t fast enough to catch him.”

Johan didn’t respond. His eyes were wide, his heart twisted painfully in his chest. A noise caught his attention and he turned, finding Winged Kuriboh there. 

_ Kuri _ , it said sadly.  _ Kuri… Kuri-ri, Kuri kuri kuri! _

_ Johan, I love you _ . 

There was no stopping the floodgates this time. Johan leaned forward in pain.

“Judai,” he screamed. All the rest remained silent until both Winged Kuriboh and Cobalt disappeared to the spirit realm. Yusei touched his shoulder gently.

“I know you’re upset,” he said. “But we can’t stop here. Yugi needs a healer now and we need the magic that kingdom has to find Judai now.” Johan didn’t move for a few seconds. Finally, he wiped his eyes and nodded. Yusei smiled sadly, “We’ll find him. I promise.” He leaned over a bit, petting Gandora’s side, “Do you think you can make it? We’ve already travelled this far, it should be coming up soon.”

Gandora huffed,  _ It’ll take more than a few big stings to keep me completely down _ .

Yusei smirked, “Let’s go.”

Gandora angled herself forward and took off with no further prompting.


	10. The Kingdom in the Sand

Gandora whimpered. Yusei, now sitting in Yugi’s seat, patted her neck, “Hang on girl. We’re almost there . We can see the city now.”

And what a grand city it was. Sand colored houses packed the inner kingdom walls but the place was not dead or lifeless. Color burst in everything from tapestries and rugs, to the clothes people wore, and even the mass amounts of greenery that sprung up between the houses. This was truly an oasis in the desert. Yusei was pretty impressed.

“Cease your dragon’s flight,” a voice ordered. Yusei turned and was surprised to see a shadowy man in purple robes flying next to them. Johan’s grip tightened on his waist.

“We’re not here to cause problems,” he assured him. “Our friend is in need of help.” Gandora whimpered again and revealed Yugi to the man. He blanched. 

“It can’t be,” he breathed. He looked seriously at Yusei, “Head straight for the palace. Land in the inner courtyard. Our healers will meet you there.”

“Thank-you,” he breathed. The man peeled off, disappearing from sight. Gandora flapped her wings, staying above the houses and palm trees and, finally, the palace walls before she landed in the wide inner courtyard. It was paved in a wide variety of colored stones and even more greenery than had been in the city. A team of people rushed to them. The first was a tall bald man with black tattoos on his forehead.

“I am Priest Shada” he told them. “We will take him to the hospital immediately.” Yusei slid off Gandora’s back and turned to help Johan down. Gandora gently handed Yugi down to them. She growled lowly in warning. Shada lowered his head, “We’ll take care of him, I promise.” She huffed. Shada looked her over, “Mahad will take care of you three. Please wait here.”

Yusei nodded, “We will. Thank-you.” Shada nodded and followed behind the medical team which disappeared into the palace. 

When they were gone, Gandora collapsed. Yusei placed a hand on her side, his brow furrowed, “Gandora!”

“You poor thing. You’ve been hit with some pretty dark magic haven’t you?” Yusei looked up. A young woman, somewhere in her early to middle twenties, with the same dark skin as the people of this kingdom, leaned onto Gandora’s neck. Her eyes were a deep green. Like most everyone else they’d seen, she wore a beige colored dress that exposed her shoulders and legs; she had bright jewelry on her wrists and ankles. She frowned. “Oh Gandora it’s good to see you again. I just wish it were under better circumstances.” She didn’t take her hands off of the dragon’s neck but she looked up at the two of them, “Thank-you for helping them. I’m Mana. Master Mahad will help her when he gets back.” She eyed them before offering a hand. Yusei eyed it. She smiled. “I’ll help the two of you. He’ll be drained enough as is. Please?” He hesitated but took it. Johan didn’t move and she frowned but didn’t drop her hand. Yusei reached for his and she finally dropped her free hand, this kind of connection enough. She muttered under her breath. A golden light appeared at the connection of their hands. Yusei felt warm but not uncomfortable. Their tiny scratches and bruises faded the longer she chanted until they were completely healed. They released hands. “There we go.”

“Thank-you,” Yusei breathed. She returned to Gandora, nuzzling into her neck. The dragon whimpered softly. He leaned his head to the side. “Do you all know Yugi and Gandora?”

“Know them? That’s an understatement,” she said. “Yugi actually….”

“Mana, what have we said about telling things that aren’t yours to share?”

She squeaked as another tall man approached them quickly. He had on a head covering and another beige outfit accented with golden jewelry. He had wide gold shoulder pieces that gave him an intimidating air. Mana straightened, “Master Mahad!” He looked between the three of them before looking at Gandora who whimpered. He smiled softly and petted her nose. 

“Hello Gandora,” he soothed. “It looks like you fought to protect them all. Thank-you.” Gandora purred. Mahad backed up. Around his neck was a gold circular piece of jewelry. It had several pointed pieces hanging off it. He raised his hands, framing it as he chanted in a language neither of them understood. The jewelry began to glow with a golden aura, much like Mana had. That aura circled Gandora. She closed her eyes, humming in joy at the warm glow. 

The light died after a few moments. Gandora’s eyes remained shut. Mahad sighed, “She’ll be alright. Now it’s just up to getting some rest.” He motioned to some servants who came forward, carrying towels and brooms to care for her.

Mahad then motioned to the front entrance, “This way gentlemen. His majesty will want to have a word with you two.” Yusei nodded. When Johan didn’t move, Yusei reached for his hand to gently drag him along. Mahad eyed him. “He doesn’t look good. What happened?”

“We lost one of our friends on the way here,” Yusei said sadly, “They were… close.”

“Was it during the same attack that injured Gandora and Yugi?”

“Yes.”

“If it was powerful enough to leave that much residual magic, then we may have a reason to be concerned.” He lead the way into the main part of the palace. The room was wide with columns that were decorated with palm tree designs. There was a raised dais in the middle of the room and an ornate chair on it. No one was there though; the room was empty, save for a few guards.

“The pharaoh tries to meet here once a week,” Mana explained, “but today isn’t the day.”

“He’ll be back in his library,” Mahad said, “If he hasn’t already….”

“Mahad!”

“... heard about Yugi,” he finished. In the time they’d been talking, they had moved to an inner courtyard underneath an open-aired hallway. A dark skinned man wearing a tunic with gold accents on his biceps, ankles, neck and wrists came rushing forward. He wore large gold earrings and a matching gold headdress. He was panting when he stopped in front of them, his brilliant red eyes wide as he stared at the two of them. His hair was tri-colored much like Yugi’s. It was clear that neither of them was related though. Mahad and Mana bowed to him, “Your majesty.”

“Is it true,” he demanded. “Has Yugi come back?” Mahad nodded. 

“Yes my pharaoh but….”

“He’s hurt, Atem,” Mana soothed. “Shada and the others are helping him now. All we can do is wait.” Atem’s fists clenched. He released them after a few seconds.

“You’re right. The doctors are the best around. I’m sure he’ll be alright.” He eyed Yusei and Johan. Mana and Mahad stepped aside to further expose them. Yusei stepped forward.

“I’m Yusei of New Domino Kingdom,” he greeted, “and this is Prince Johan of the North Kingdom.” Johan snapped out of it long enough to remember his upbringing and he bowed but said nothing. “Yugi and Gandora are helping us. Yugi thought the magic of this kingdom would be the best way to go in solving some of our problems.” His eyes flashed, “We were ambushed on our way here. They were hurt. We lost a friend….”

“Prince Judai,” Johan cut in. “Prince Judai of the Neo Kingdom.”

“I see,” Atem said thoughtfully. Taking a look at them closely, he frowned, “You two look exhausted. I understand your urgency and needs to do something now, but it will do none of us any good if you do not rest your bodies as well. We can talk over dinner. Mahad, please show them to a guest room.”

He bowed, “Yes, Pharaoh.” Atem smiled.

“Excellent. I will speak to Isis quickly. Her knowledge will be helpful right now.” 

That was that. Atem turned and went back to another part of the palace. Mahad motioned one way. They followed.

*****

Johan sat on the bed. The room was grand with a wide bed covered in silk sheets, marble floors and a view out onto the inner courtyard from a balcony. Yusei was there, watching the sunset. Both of them had handed over their dirty clothes to some servants who has whisked them off to be washed. Yusei was still wearing an undershirt that covered his arms and some loose pants; it honestly felt better than his full outfit. They now waited for them to be summoned to Pharaoh Atem’s presence. A gentle breeze moved into the room.

A set of hands wrapped around his waist suddenly; he looked back to Johan who had his cheek against his back. “Sorry I….”

“I’m not much of a hugger,” Yusei said. “But you need this right?” Johan nodded. They remained like that for some time before Yusei took a deep breath, “I get it Johan. I’m scared too.” His fists clenched. “I don’t know if Rally… Nerve…. Blitz…. Or Taka are okay.” Johan backed up, his eyes wide.

“Why didn’t you say anything,” he asked.

Yusei let out a breath that was mixed with a chuckle, “It seemed a bit on the not-important side of things.”

“Your feelings aren’t nothing Yusei,” he breathed. They watched the waters of the pond ripple a bit, scattering the red of the setting sun. “We,” Johan slowly continued, “didn’t really get the time to… process anything did we?”

“It’s been a whirlwind of things.” He turned to face him. Johan released the hug but Yusei caught his hands, holding him there. He ran a thumb over the back of his hand. “I don’t think now is the time to be stressing about it. I just have to believe that everything we do here will be for something in the end.”

“It will be.” Johan promised.

Yusei smiled softly, “Then you have to believe it too. We’re not going to leave Judai behind.”

Johan sniffed. “Thank-you Yusei.”

“Anytime.”

There was a knock on the door. They moved away from each other as it opened and Mana entered, smiling at them, “Hey, are you two all rested?” She held up some folded clothes in her hands. “I’ve got your clothes here, all fresh and cleaned. You can get dressed and follow me; dinner is ready.” 

Yusei nodded and took the clothes. Mana closed the door and waited in the hallway until the two of them were ready, opened the door, and followed her down the hall. Once lit by sunlight, the hallways were now illuminated by torchlight. Servants moved about, cleaning or patrolling the grounds. Mana lead them to a pretty small room compared to the others they’d seen; pillows and rugs were placed around it for everyone to sit or lounge. There was a long, low table in the middle.

Mana motioned to a side of the table and Yusei and Johan perked up immediately. Yugi was already there. He smiled up at the two of them, raising a hand in greeting, “Yusei, Johan. Glad to see you’re both okay.”

“Us? What about you,” Johan asked. Yugi waved them off.

“Gandora took the physical injuries. As her partner, I felt the pain and, given the size difference, she can handle more than me.” He smiled at Mana, “Thank-you for helping her.” She bowed. 

“It was no trouble. We’re always happy to help.” Yusei sat next to Yugi and Johan next to him. Another curtain opened and several people walked in at once: Mahad, Shada, another man, another woman, and then… 

Yugi swallowed hard. Yusei noticed when he averted his gaze, keeping it locked on the table instead. Atem eyed him. There was no missing the heat that was in his eyes but he smiled at Yusei instead, “I’m glad to see that you two are well rested. Now that we are all here, we can discuss what it is we need to do.” He motioned to Mahad who turned and ordered for the food to be brought in. Several meats were served along with an abundance of vegetables and bread and sweet-cakes with wine. All of them ate for several minutes with pleasant conversation; it was only when the meal came to its end and no one moved that Atem brought the conversation back to what needed to be discussed.

“Mahad was kind enough to catch us up on what occurred as you were flying into the city,” he began. “But we are in need of the whole story.” 

Johan looked at Yusei. Yusei sighed, “It’s… a long one to say the least.” Atem lounged back in his chair. 

“And we have the night.”

Yusei told them all about Zero Reverse that took part of New Domino Kingdom out to the sea, about Goodwin’s promise to fix it and reunite the two, the mass amount of disappearances, his capture upon arriving on the mainland, the mark he was given for his troubles, the years he spent working to build the Junk Warriors and free the people that he could. Johan took over from there, telling about his and Judai’s escape from Academy, finding the Junk Warriors and assisting in their first raid, getting attacked by the White Knight before being dragged through a portal only to be rescued by Gandora and Yugi. 

“Wait, I knew I forgot something,” Yugi said when the story reached this part. He looked at Yusei primarily. “The second mark you have. Show them.” Everyone blinked in confusion but he rolled up the sleeve of his tunic, revealing the mark on his right arm. 

“Two dragons,” Mana gasped. Yusei nodded. Yugi stopped anyone before they could say anything.

“Not quite. Yusei has  _ one _ dragon that is truly his. The other… well the other has him. Him and four others.” He tapped his forehead, trying to remember, “If I’m remembering my research correctly, the dragon was called the Crimson Dragon. It’s said to be as powerful as… the gods.” The last part he said cryptidly but it seemed to have an affect on the others in the room. The tall priest, who had been introduced to them as Set, looked menacingly at him. 

“How is that possible?”

Yugi shrugged. “Magic’s weird like that. All of you should know that for certain.”

“He has a point,” Mana confirmed. 

“Still, to have a god dragon is rare...,” Shada said.

“Right, except… he doesn’t? The Crimson dragon isn’t exactly like the gods… The gods still prefer to have one person be their representation in this part of the world but it isn’t picky. In fact, to protect its power, it seems to have divided its power amongst five marked people.” 

“Then this dragon will be able to help us then,” Johan asked. Yugi scratched his head. 

“Maybe. But really, what is there to help when we’re running blind? We don’t have a lot of information and you two are trying to fight without dragons even though you’re both marked.” The room fell silent for a moment. Isis, the woman with the headdress, opened her eyes and stood, moving to stand next to the front of the room. 

“Perhaps it is time that I put my magic to use then,” she said. All eyes turned to her and Atem nodded his permission. Isis took a deep breath. She raised her hands to encircle the golden necklace. It was the same eye design that Yusei recognized from from the other priests’ items and even Atem’s golden puzzle. A gold light emitted into the room for several seconds as she began to speak, “My eye can show me many things. Things that are, things that were, things that will be. I will search first the Kingdom of New Domino to find the missing people you spoke of Yusei.” She fell silent. Suddenly, her face twisted and she cried out, nearly collapsing to the floor but she kept herself. Mahad and Atem both jerked towards her but she shook her head, telling them to stop, “Powerful magic keeps me from seeing what happens in the kingdom. We must be careful there.”

“Then we really will need the dragons,” Yusei mused. “Can you tell us where to find our dragons?” She nodded. 

The glow brightened for a second. 

“I cannot see their exact locations,” she warned, “but the eye shows me two locations: The Waste and the Abyss.” Her brow knitted. “There is a rainbow light emerging from the Abyss and starlight coming from the Waste.” 

Yugi faced the two of them, “I can take a guess at who goes where.” 

“Can you keep going,” Johan asked, “Can you find Prince Judai?” Isis hesitated. 

Mahad put a hand on his shoulder, “We can’t allow her to wear herself out. Searching for as long as she has so far can wear on even the greatest magician.” 

“I can search once more,” she replied without opening her eyes. Johan perked up and then, she frowned. “He’s in Darkness.”

“He too is in the Abyss,” Mahad asked. Isis shook her head.

“No, he is in pure Darkness. He is beyond this world. There is something… Something is with him.” She screamed and fell backwards. Mahad rushed forward and everyone stood quickly. Isis was holding her head as Mahad grabbed her shoulders, trying to help steady her. When she could speak again, she gave a warning, “We are dealing with a great deal of dark powers; each more powerful than the rest.” 

Atem sighed and sat back on his chair, “There is a lot for us to be concerned with.” His eyes scanned the room. “We must prepare for anything. I sense that what is happening in New Domino is the key to everything but we have to have everything aligned properly before we try to make a move.”

“Goodwin has to be dethroned,” Yusei stated. “And there’s only one way that can happen: the true prince has to be found.” 

“The true prince,” Mana asked, “Didn’t the royal family die in Zero Reverse?” Yusei shook his head.

“Rumor has it that the King and Queen sent their son away before the explosion and he ended up on the Island of the Satellite.”

“Is that why you conducted the raids,” Johan asked, “to find him?” Yusei shook his head.

“We raided to protect the people.” He looked back at Atem. “Even if we find him, we’re still going to have to remove Goodwin by force. We’ll need every bit of power we can get.” He nodded in agreement.

“Then your dragons are the first goal,” he confirmed. “Then Prince Judai.”

“I can create a path to where your friend is,” Isis confirmed, “since I connected with the energy. It will take time though. By the time you return with your dragons, it should be ready.” She touched her necklace. “If what I sensed is true, you will need all the help you can get against this one enemy.”

“So what I’m hearing,” Mana asked, “Is that we’ve got  _ two _ strong enemies we have to deal with?” No one said anything.

The room felt empty and suddenly, the prospect of coming out on top didn’t feel that strong. Atem stood, breaking the tension.

“It’s late,” he said, “Let’s retire for the evening. We can prepare for the travels in the morning.” Everyone stood, bowing to Atem but, as they filed from the room, he reached out, taking Yugi gently by the hand. Yugi tensed. 

“May I have a word with you,” he asked softly.

Yusei raised an eyebrow but Yugi shook his head. He’d be fine. Atem wasn’t going to do anything to him. He did take a deep breath and turned, “There’s no words to be had.” Atem’s face twisted.

“Yugi…” Yugi gently pulled his wrist away.

“Good-night Pharaoh.” 

He turned and left, passing Yusei quickly. 

Yusei looked between the two of them and there was no mistaking it. 

Both of them were fighting back tears.


	11. Abyss

Dawn came far too quickly but Johan already knew this since he’d been awake for hours at this point. He was nervous, anxious even, unable to sleep for fear of the dreams... seeing Judai’s face as he fell into the darkness.... hearing the words  _ I love you _ coming from his mouth only to be delivered by Winged Kuriboh. He sighed to himself on the balcony watching as the water below rippled from the flowing river not too far away. He hugged himself. The night was warm but he felt cold. Taking a deep breath, he gently pressed one of the jewels on his arm summoning Pegasus. 

Johan looked up at him, begging for silent answers. Pegasus bowed its head.

“I'm sorry Johan. I have no words to comfort you tonight.” Judai, hugging himself, squeezed his own shoulders.

“But what if I can't save him,” he asked, “What if all we do is for nothing?”

“You can't think like that ,” Pegasus warned, “If you do, then you definitely will never succeed. As long as you have us- Yusei, Yugi, the Pharaoh and his people- there's nothing in this world you can't do.” Its expression softened, “You spent so many years longing to be with people and now you are. Don't let this moment slip by you into darkness Johan.”

“Thank-you,” he whispered. The winged horse bowed its head one last time then faded away back to the spirit world.

A noise from behind him caused Johan to turn. Yusei had woken up, rubbing his eyes as he approached him. It had been a long time since he had gotten any decent sleep but after everything that had happened, he couldn’t seem to fight it off. He ran a hand through his hair to straighten it a bit. Johan smiled at him, “I didn’t get to thank-you for yesterday.” Yusei smiled sadly. 

“There's nothing to thank me for. You helped me just as much as I helped you.”

“I wouldn’t have snapped out of it if it wasn't for you. I was so concerned with Judai that I was willing to let myself fall into a darkness…” He leaned down on the railing, his eyes going half lidded, “How do I describe it?”

“We've all been there,” he confirmed. “It’s nothing to be ashamed of.” Johan held out a hand. Yusei took it without a second thought. They stayed like that for a few seconds until Johan finally took a deep breath.

“Do you think we can do this or is this a mission where we won't return from?”

Yusei tightened his grip a little bit but then let it go with a sigh, “We can do this. As long as we believe in each other and know that all of our friends believe in us. There’s no doubt in my mind we can do this.” Johan smiled. He felt his heart flutter again. Yusei’s hand felt warm against his and a faint flush came to their cheeks. Unspoken words travelled between them but this was neither the time nor place to make them a reality just yet. 

When the sun finally broke the horizon, the two of them were ready to go.

They met the rest of the people in the courtyard. Pharaoh Atem stood speaking to Shada and Isis about preparing for the connection to where Prince Judai was while Mahad spoke to Mana about keeping up with her responsibilities while he was away. Yugi was fixing the straps on the bags on Gandora’s side. Atem raised a hand in greeting when he spotted them and the group came together for a final talk. 

“Good morning,” Yusei greeted. Everyone returned the greeting. Yugi quit fiddling with the straps and walked over, ready to get started.

“Gandora’s packed and ready,” he confirmed. He looked between the two. “Isis’s vision yesterday tells us where each of you needs to go. Yusei’ll head to the Wastes to find the dragon that matches his star mark and Johan will head to the Abyss for the dragon giving off those rainbows.” 

“We won’t send you alone,” Atem told them. “Mahad will go with you, Johan. His magic will help against the shadows there. You must be careful. The Abyss will stare into your very soul; it will try to tear you from your path but you must never waver. It will pull out your darkest secrets.” Johan nodded. Mahad bowed.

“I promise to keep him safe my Pharaoh.” Atem nodded. He turned to Yugi and Yusei.

“The Wastes are no less dangerous. You will encounter powerful people there, mages and bandits alike, who may be looking for the same beast you are.” 

“Since it’s bonded has approached, we stand a chance,” Yugi replied. His expression didn’t change despite how hard Atem stared at him. Johan was the one to break the tension.

“We should get moving then. I’m scared for Judai and every second we stand here....” 

“You’re absolutely right,” Atem said. “Travel safe, all of you. We will prepare to rescue him here upon your return.” 

They broke away then. Mahad had servants bring forward two horses and Johan hesitated, starting to move to summon Pegasus instead when Mahad warned him against it. He would need all the energy he could get for the Abyss. Summoning his familiars would be foolish right now. Johan bit his lip and rolled the sleeve of his tunic back down, climbing upon the white mare that was offered to him. He offered Yusei one final, soft smile before the two of them turned their horses and took off into the desert. Yusei watched until they disappeared. A hand landed on his shoulder and he looked over to Yugi. It was their turn to depart. Just before they could climb on Gandora’s back, Atem grabbed Yugi’s wrist again.

“Yugi, please. I really need to speak to you.” He paused, squeezing gently. “Please. Just… just give me a few words.” Yugi hesitated. Finally, he nodded and without releasing him, Atem took him to a secluded part of the courtyard.

Yusei leaned against Gandora, “What’s the story with those two?”

Gandora huffed,  _ Not my place to say _ . Yusei rolled his eyes. 

“Of course it isn’t.” He crossed his arms. He had his suspicions but he didn’t want to say anything in case he was wrong. Several minutes passed with nothing and then, Yugi appeared first. He walked quickly towards them without a word about what happened; he climbed on to Gandora and Yusei followed suit.

When they were airborne, Yusei looked back. 

Atem was watching but his expression was different. He looked….

Yusei grabbed Yugi’s shoulder gently. Yugi stiffened. “Should you really leave it like this,” Yusei asked softly. Yugi sniffed and shook his head. 

“No but we can’t wait any longer,” he replied. Gandora hesitated for a second but he reached down and patted her neck, assuring her he was okay. “Let’s go. We’ve got a dragon to find.” She huffed. Flapping her wings, she aimed south, heading to the black Wasteland.

*****

Johan swallowed hard. 

He couldn’t see more than an inch in front of his face but he knew that if he didn’t take it one step at a time, hugging close to the wall, he would die. This was a journey he had to take. Alone.

They’d arrived at the edge of the Abyss several minutes ago. Mahad frowned when they dismounted. Looking down revealed a gaping hole of pure darkness, blacker than anything he’d ever seen before, yawning before them. Mahad pointed with his staff. 

“The dragon is that way,” he confirmed, “But the path is narrow. It’ll be treacherous.” He looked around. “If I stay here and focus, I can keep a majority of the shadows at bay.”

“I’m going down there alone,” Johan asked incredulously. Mahad placed a hand on his shoulder. 

“I believe in you. Your dragon trusts in you too; your familiars will help when you need it.” Johan looked back, then back to Mahad, before he steeled himself and nodded. 

There were no sounds. There was no light. Nothing seemed to permeate this place; it was a pure endless void. 

His heart was racing. This was probably the most nervous he’d been in his whole life. A low rumble came from deep within the place and he braced himself against the wall, waiting for it to die down. A wave of nauseating energy washed over him. Johan covered his mouth. Pharaoh Atem hadn’t been kidding; this was place was really coming for him already and he wasn’t sure if he was going to be able to do this. 

His body began to glow softly. It was golden in nature and he blinked. Mahad. He was protecting him like he promised, the feeling of sickness quickly passing in the glow. He steeled himself. Johan slid another foot forward. 

And a piece of the ledge fell away. 

Johan’s breath caught. A few seconds past with nothing else happening so he shifted forward.

The ledge had warned him, to be fair. The rest of it fell away.

Johan screamed as he fell into the darkness.

*****

Johan’s eyes opened to… his bedroom. He jolted up, looking around and checking his body for any injuries. Nothing seemed to be broken; in fact, he didn’t even seem to have any kind of an injury and he was dressed in fresh clothing. It was quite. Just like it always had been. He swallowed hard, throwing the blankets off of his legs. He walked barefoot across the cold stone floor to the window. Normally, he would have been able to see into the courtyard from his window but now, he now saw absolutely nothing. That was… weird.

A soft knock came from the door. He turned and was surprised when he turned to find that he didn’t need to say anything; a smaller version of himself, maybe six years old at best, was running towards it with an eager expression. The child opened the door.

Standing there was a maid. She was fair but carried about her a weariness that far exceeded her age. She smiled down at him before bowing her head and his little face fell a bit. 

“Oh. Hi Arden,” he sighed. She smiled softly at him before ducking to his level. 

“Good morning young Prince,” she chirped. Her golden mark sparkled a bit in the firelight. He had always been mesmerized by it but whenever he asked, she only said told it him that it was given to her by her old kingdom. Nothing else would ever come from her mouth. He looked up at her hopefully.

“Have you… have you heard anything from the King and Queen?” She shook her head.

“No your highness. They still…” she swallowed, “They still aren’t allowing you out. It’s for your own safety.” 

His heart twisted. He remembered having to fight back the tears that threatened his eyes. Arden gently took him into a hug. He sniffed and buried his face into her neck, trying to be strong even though it was hard.

“It’ll be alright,” she promised. Arden’s eyes raised then, staring the current him in the face. “Just stay here where you’ll be safe from the dangers of the world. Your heart won’t be broken. Your body never injured.” 

He clenched his fists. “So you’re the Abyss,” he said softly. Arden smiled and the scene immediately became black as they faced each other.

“You’re not pure,” it said. “Your heart is as dark as I am. You were a coward. You let Judai be stolen away from you.”

Johan’s face twisted, “No.”

“Oh yes. You could’ve been brave like he’d been. You could’ve jumped after him. Yet, you let Yusei hold you back.” Arden, the Abyss, pointed to him, “You turned to the Crystal Beasts, just like you always do. When little Prince Johan couldn’t be happy on his own, he called the Beasts.”

“They’re my friends!”

“Are they? Or are they just like me?” She turned her face, revealing the gold mark. “A slave to your desires?”

_ Don’t waver. Don’t forget your objective _ . 

Johan took a deep breath. He stepped forward towards the heart of the Abyss and it watched him with cold eyes. “There’s a lot,” he whispered, “that I’m angry for. I’m angry for having been locked in a tower for my childhood. I’m angry at Arden’s fate. I’m angry at myself for letting Judai fall.” He didn’t stop walking. Arden’s face twisted. It became more demonic, breaking in places to reveal the darkness underneath the human-like appearance. “But Judai told me he loved me and Yusei told me he believes in me. They’re both waiting and trusting that I’ll return with my bonded dragon so that we can save the Kingdom of New Domino and go home in one piece. I’m not about to fall into your head games. Try again with someone else.” 

The darkness hissed. 

“You are nothing more than a coward.”

“Maybe so but you’re not going to be able to stop the love and support I feel from everyone I know. Let’s just end this.” He hadn’t stopped walking. The darkness reeled, looking like it was going to strike at him but it let out a cry as a burst of rainbow light appeared behind it. As he passed, the Arden-being burst and faded. Relief washed over him. Johan looked towards the glow in the darkness, “It’s a good thing Atem warned me about that or that would’ve been a lot harder.” He smiled. “But your help was greatly appreciated. Let’s get out of here Rainbow Dragon.” 

He walked towards the light until the darkness finally faded away.


	12. Wasteland Witch

“I’m not sensing anything,” Yusei sighed. He sat behind Yugi, looking around the area below them in hopes of sensing or even seeing his dragon. Yugi looked back at him from over his shoulder.

“It’s not always one hundred percent. Especially for someone who hasn’t been trained on how to sense it.” He ran a hand through his head. “I’m sorry there hasn’t been enough time to teach you either.”

“You can’t feel bad about that. It’s not like either of us had a choice,” he assured him, “We do need to find it though. Judai’s waiting on us and, at this rate, so will Johan.” 

Yugi chuckled, “You’re getting a bit impatient. How out of character for you.” Yusei blushed.

“I am not.” 

“I get it Yusei. I really do. I’m scared and nervous too but we can’t rush anything right now. Let’s just take it slow and see what we can do.” 

Yusei sighed, “You’re right.” 

“Great so I was thinking maybe we should go towards the southern area first and….”

“Uh, Yugi,” Yusei interrupted. Yugi looked at him but his eyes were wide and he was staring at something in front of them. Gandora growled lowly. Yugi turned back. In the air in front of them were several undulating black tendrils. They froze as they stopped some distance away; it was an uneasy stand-off until the tendrils shot towards them. Gandora roared and began flying faster to dodge the attack. Not again. Gandora growled, keeping an eye on each thing until they emerged on to the other side. She huffed with pleasure. 

"Not now Gandora," Yugi shouted, "They're still coming!" She looked back over her shoulder and growled before rising up. She banked left and right, up and down, diving bombing but nothing worked. She roared in frustration. Yugi petted her neck. She nodded and flew towards a nearby mountain. Yusei looked back. 

"What are we doing Yugi?"

"Gandora can't attack while we're on her back," he shouted. "You and I are landing to give her a fair fight." Yugi smiled at Yusei, "And you're going to find your dragon. We can at least run a distraction for you."

"I'll try to find it quick so we can help," he promised. Gandora hovered feet above the mountain side. Both of them jumped, landing with ease. Gandora turned and caught some of the tentacles and that's when Yugi's eyes went wide.

"They're vines," he said in awe. Gandora growled. She flew away from the mountain, still holding some of them as the rest followed. Yugi looked and Yusei quickly, "Go. Find your dragon. Gandora, red explosion!" Gandora curled in a bit on herself. The jewels around her body lit up then and she expanded back out as powerful red lines exploded from each of them, colliding with each of the vines and cutting them. She roared proudly. "Watch out!" She spun in just enough time to avoid more. Again with the lines. Now they were on an even playing field. 

Yusei felt relief to see that they were going to be alright so he closed his eyes, breathing in deep. He reached for something,  _ anything _ , that would give him a hint of where to go. 

There was nothing at first. Then, he felt it. The glow was soft and warm, silver and blue in color. It sparkled. Somewhere… left. He had to go up higher. 

Yusei opened his eyes. There was a steep path to his left that he immediately spotted and he ran for it, listening to the sounds of the fighting behind him get softer the further he went. The Waste was nothing. The dirt was black and no greenery could grow here, despite how desperately some seeds tried. It wasn't sandy nor watery here but it didn't make for the best running material either. It slid away. Yusei slid too but he didn't stop until he finally reached the highest part of the mountain. Behind the peak was a plateau that was as barren as the rest of the land around it; he still had to squint to see in the sunlight. 

A shadowy figure stood before him. They wore a white, mouthless mask and a long black cloak despite the heat. In their right hand was a sword, drawn and at the ready, pointed straight towards him. 

Yusei instinctively touched his own. 

He finished the climb to the top, walking forward carefully until he was within earshot of the person.

"Stop," she ordered. Yusei could hear the strength in her voice and he did as commanded, waiting for her to continue. "Who dares to cross the land of the Wasteland Witch?"

"My name is Yusei," he answered. "I'm not here to cause any problems. I'm here to retrieve my dragon…."

"Lies," she hissed, raising her sword tip higher. "There is only one dragon here and she is  _ mine _ ."

There came a roar and suddenly, Gandora was falling into the ground next to them. Yusei covered his face. The ground rumbled, debris and rocks flying everywhere as she was pushed along the ground. The dust settled. Yugi joined them, his eyes wide and tiny cuts all over his body. He was holding his arm which mirrored a pretty nasty wound on Gandora's arm. 

The dragon that was pushing Gandora was red and black in design. It was slender in the face with wings that looked like rose petals; from its body came the vines that had attacked them earlier. It and Gandora hissed at each other but the battle had frozen. Yugi joined him. "What's going on," he asked, panting.

"I think we accidentally crossed into someone else's territory," Yusei explained. Yugi looked closely at the woman and sword, undisturbed by the raised object. 

"No one can own the Waste," Yugi said. "The land is inhospitable." He straightened and started towards her but stopped as if he was held by an invisible force. The second dragon hissed in warning. It had Gandora's legs and arms pinned. 

"I will not say it again," the witch warned, "Leave my land at once."

"Please," Yusei answered, "I have friends that are in trouble. We need to find my dragon." 

"And I've told you, the only dragon here is Black Rose Dragon and she is my bonded." The dragon hissed in agreement. Gandora struggled for a moment but she whipped at her with more vines, stopping that in a moment. Yugi winced. 

Yusei stepped forward, "Look. I get it. You're afraid and you want to be left alone." She faltered. "But I promise I'm not here and Yugi isn't here to fight with you specifically. Let me prove it. Let me pass and I'll bring my dragon back as proof. You have my word?"

"And how much is a word," she snapped, "Humans are all the same: they sell pretty lies and expect you to fall for them hook, line, and sinker. No questions asked. God help you if you fail to fall in line. God help you if you're  _ weird _ ."

"I don't think you're weird."

She stopped. Looking Yusei in the face, she could see that he was genuine, what he meant with his heart. Yusei didn't look away. He allowed her to see his honesty as much as he could muster. She faltered for the first time in years… since her decision to leave her old life behind and start a new out in the Wastes. 

The witch dropped her sword. 

"Show me. Show me this dragon that you claim to be here but I warn you, if you lie to me, your friend and his dragon will both die." Black Rose hissed and tightened her vines. Yusei nodded. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, looking for the feeling again, the sensation of being whole. He found it, much faster than he did the last time. Yusei followed it slowly to the middle of the plateau and as he passed her, he could hear her stepping back and raising the sword in warning. He didn't touch her. He stopped when he finally found the exact location. 

The feeling bounced a bit. He furrowed his brow to help concentrate on the sensation,  _ How do I get you out? _

Another bounce. The light grew a bit warmer but there was a sensation of pure burning that surged through his body. There was a gasp. 

A whispery thin voice told him  _ I can help _ . 

Yusei held out his hands. His palms were faced down towards the earth but he could see the swirl of white, blue, and red behind his eyelids as it swirled around his feet, rising up higher than all of them. The light, the one that he could sense as his dragon, was drawn up in the vortex from the ground until it was given the room to grow into it's true form. 

When the vortex died, there was a calm unnerving silence that fell over the plateau. Yusei opened his eyes.

Stardust Dragon was muscular and slender with a pointed muzzle clearly meant for speed. He was silver and blue in coloring and when he extended his wings, they sparkled like starlight. He stood on two legs with a long tail to hold him steady. He shook his body to regain his senses before looking down at Yusei who couldn't help but smile up at him. Stardust dropped to all fours so he could put his face close to him. Yusei patted it before leaning in close himself, "Hi there Stardust."

He purred a bit. 

The sound of metal broke their thoughts and Stardust gave a low warning growl at the witch who had raised her sword again. "Liar!"

"I didn't lie. Please stop this!"

"What magic did you use? Some kind of teleportation spell?" Black Rose hissed and Stardust returned the noise. Yusei looked between the three of them before it fully dawned on him, something so obvious that he managed to miss it.

"You're one of the Crimson Dragon's chosen," he stated. She jerked. She tried to turn her right side out of sight, trying to hide the glowing red mark. Yusei raised up his right arm. "I'm one too."

"Why would you be proud of it," she challenged, "having this mark ruins lives. It's nothing to be proud of."

"And so does this mark," he pointed the yellow Satellite mark. "These marks don't have any power over our lives, our choices. I'm sorry for whatever happened, for whoever hurt you, what was said, but you don't have to be afraid anymore." He moved closer, arms outstretched. She raised the sword tip in warning.

"Stay back!"

"It's lonely out here isn't it? It hurts. I get it." Another step. Another. 

"STAY BACK!"

She thrusted forward. Yusei saw the sword coming and he side-stepped it, catching the blade with his hand. She tugged. He tightened his grip. The blade cut through his glove, drawing a thin line of blood. The witch shrunk back as he used the moment to step closer, catching her shoulders and holding her close in a tight embrace. It was like a spell had been broken. Black Rose Dragon hissed softly and released Yugi and Gandora while she dropped her sword, the hilt sliding out from her grasp before clanking to the ground. 

"It's okay," he promised. "It's going to be all okay. You're not alone anymore. There's nothing to be afraid of anymore." 

There was a moment when it looked like she was going to fight back but all of them were shocked when she… just dropped her hands. It was like all power had left her completely. The mask she wore slid. It too had lost its power and finally revealed the face beneath. Yusei smiled. 

"Let's start over? I'm Yusei and this is Stardust Dragon, my bonded partner." Stardust let out a soft cooing sound in greeting. "The big black dragon is Gandora and her partner is Yugi." Yugi raised his hand. Gandora let out a little more than a gentle cooing and she nipped at one of Black Rose' s vines that we're still wrapped around her body. He smiled at all of them. "We're trying to save the kingdom I'm from, New Domino." She looked up at him, tears still in her eyes.

"New… Domino?" He nodded. 

"Some weird things are going on. King Goodwin is up to something and we're worried that the kingdom may be in danger."

She raised her arms, grabbing the upper part of his arm. "Did you say New Domino is in trouble?" She squeezed. "I… my parents…. My parents are in the kingdom!" The two of them shared a look. Yugi smiled. 

"Why don't you join us then," he suggested. "We're pretty in the dark about what we are up against; we could use all the help we can get." She looked between all of them, humans and dragons alike, before she nodded.

Yusei smiled, "Welcome aboard then." He held out a hand and she hesitated, but eventually shook it. 

Two out of five. 


	13. The King of Darkness

“Woah, woah, woah,” Mana exclaimed three dragons came flying into the inner courtyard. She shielded her eyes from the sun as she observed the three of them, letting out a whistle. “I knew we sent you to find one dragon but to find  _ two _ and a new person? I’m impressed.”

Yugi jumped down from Gandora, making sure to pet her nuzzle before walking over to Mana. Yusei helped Aki down from Black Rose. “It’s not that hard to impress you Mana,” Yugi teased. “You’re really excitable.”

“Well pardon me for enjoying the little things.” She sniffed and turned away from him, crossing her arms and tilting her head back. Her lips pursed into a pout. Yugi playfully poked her cheeks but she only puffed them up until she finally got tired enough of him, licking his finger which surprised him into jerking back quickly with a cry. “That’s what you get!”

“Fair enough.” He motioned to Aki who had followed behind Yusei, “Mana, this is Aki. She’s been living in the Wastes for a while now; she’s also got one of the Crimson Dragon marks.” Mana’s eyes went wide.

“Two dragons, a new person, and that person happens to be a member of the Crimson Dragon! You guys really did get lucky.”

“Extremely so,” Yusei said. Aki smiled a bit sheepishly, still a bit overwhelmed by the crowd. He frowned. Mana didn’t notice and she held her hand toward the palace entrance.

“The Pharaoh and the others are ready to send you guys in after Prince Judai. Isis was able to rebuild the road.” Yugi nodded. She lead the way there. As they walked, Yusei leaned over to Aki.

“Are you okay?”

She shrugged, “I don’t know. It’s… it's been a long time.” He nodded. 

“You’ll get used to it again.” 

"Maybe…." They entered into the throne room. Atem, Shada, Set, and Isis all stood at the dais, discussing something that the group couldn't hear until they got closer. The four of them were reviewing the plan to open their portal straight to Prince Judai. Mana cleared her throat as they approached. Atem's eyes immediately shot up, locking on to Yugi as if he hadn't seen the most beautiful thing in the world for a century. Yugi flushed and their departure a few days prior came flooding back. Atem smiled though and gazed over the rest of them. 

"Welcome back. Isis informed us of your good fortunes already." The woman bowed her head. Atem turned to Aki. "Thank you for deciding to help us. We know of your concern with your parents already and we are more than willing to help you reunite with them."

Aki clenched her fists but she bowed and said, "Thank-you." Yugi and Yusei shared a look. She hadn't been exactly forth coming on the flight back about why she had been living in the Waste or why she didn't know anything about her parents. They'd given her space of course. Both intuitively knew that despite her outward appearance, she was a loyal friend and would be a great help when they were finally able to fix whatever was wrong with the kingdom. 

Yusei looked back at Atem, "Have Mahad and Johan returned yet?" He shook his head then looked at Isis who was already ahead of them, checking on their status with her necklace. She smiled. 

"They're landing in the courtyard as we speak." Several roars came from outside. Yusei, followed closely by Mana and Yugi, ran to the door only to stop and gaze in wonder. 

The dragon that landed before them was large. Almost god-like in size. It was white with gold accents on its body but the most impressive part where the rainbow colored jewels that decorated the sides of its body. The sands scattered as it flapped its wings, landing with a pretty solid thud next to the other dragons. 

Johan waved to them from its back. "Yusei! Yugi!" They waved in return. The dragon ducked its upper body so that the two of them could easily slide off. Johan raced for Yusei. 

The two collided in an excited hug, squeezing each other tight. After a few seconds, they pushed back to check each other over without saying as much. Johan beamed. "We did it Yusei. We got our dragons." He motioned to his. "I'd like you to meet Rainbow Dragon." It rumbled in greeting. He backed up some more. "That's not all! Check this out." Yusei watched in mild surprise as Johan raised his hands. In a puff of red smoke, a small purple like cat appeared. It jumped to Johan's shoulders and he opened his eyes to smile at him. Yusei's jaw dropped.

"You can summon them without touching the jewels anymore?" Johan nodded eagerly. 

"You betcha! Having my bounded dragon seems to have been the secret." He pointed to him, “It seems that the Crystal Beasts are tied to him; at least that’s what Pegasus said.” Johan blinked then looked over his shoulder. "Uh… who's that?" Yusei turned to find the others had walked out. He motioned to Aki who stepped forward. 

"Johan, this is Aki. Her dragon is Black Rose over there," he pointed out, "and she's a Signer just like me." 

"Nice to meet you," Johan smiled, offering a hand. Aki hesitated again before she took it. As soon as they touched, both of their eyes went wide. "You… you can see them too can't you?" She pulled her hand back, clutching it to her chest as she looked away from them. Johan smiled softly. 

It dawned on Yugi who said, “You can see the spirits that Johan can?” Aki squeezed her fists. 

“We can talk about it later,” Johan said. She looked up, completely surprised by the statement. “We’ve got a prince to rescue after all. We’ve left Judai with that darkness for too long.” 

“You’re right,” Atem said. The group turned to face him. All eyes were now firmly locked on the pharoah as he spoke, “We can open the door to him but the thing that’s holding him in the darkness will fight with all it has to stop you from reaching him.”

“The darkness made it abundantly clear it wants him,” Isis added. “It is aggressive. It will attack without question. The four of us,” she motioned to the other priests, “will have to hold the door open so that all of you may return.”

“I think it goes without saying, I think we already know who all is going,” Yusei said, “So we can skip that step.”

“And we’re ready so let’s skip that as well,” Johan added. Everyone agreed and the priest moved into their formation. The rest of them moved out of the way. In sync, the priests raised their arms. They began to chant, slowly and carefully, their items, the necklace, ring, rod, and key, began to glow; the light converged in between them all and swirled into an open portal. The dragons growled lowly. Atem faced the travelling group.

"It's open. Let's go."

"Wait a second," Johan said. He took a step forward. "Let me go. Please. I need to be the one to help him."

"This isn't some kind of self-sacrificing mission," Yugi chided. “Maybe we shouldn’t have skipped the ‘who’s going’ discussion after all.” Atem started to say something but Yusei stopped him by stepping forward. 

"I'll go with him." Yugi's face started to redden.

"Have you two lost it? That thing you're going to face is going powerful!"

"No more powerful than Goodwin," Yusei challenged. "Listen, Yugi, I know you want to help Judai as much as the two of us but what if this thing takes us out? Who'll help him then? We need you, and Aki, here in case we don't make it."

"Besides," Johan smirked, "Judai's my damsel in distress. I've got to go get him."

Yugi let out a chuckle despite himself and Atem gently touched his arm, "I think they're right Yugi. Let's give them a chance to rescue him first." He stared at the two of them. "We'll give you one hour. Other whys…."

"Got it," Johan saluted. He and Yusei approached their dragons, both of which lowered their shoulders so that they could climb on. Rainbow Dragon and Stardust rumbled lowly. The two of them nodded to each other and urged them forward, sending the four of them off to a world of darkness.

*****

Both dragons glowed in the dark. It was a pleasant surprise that neither of their bonded had expected; on the nights that they had travelled back to Atem's kingdom, they had seen no sign of the glow. Maybe because there had been some kind of a light, naturally made. Here, there was no light of any kind. It was nothing but a mass of swirling darkness that would make even the most stoic of all warriors question his heroism. Yusei and Johan were just glad they had their dragons now. 

As they rode closer to the center of the darkness, the two dragons became even more restless. Something made them give off low warning growls. Both bared their teeth and claws. Stardust's mouth began to ooze a bit of what Yusei could assume was an attack; it was, in this state, thin and wispy, sparkling much like his wings did when they were fully extended. Yusei took a look around. There wasn’t much to see. Not even a speck of light seemed to break the impenetrable darkness. He looked back to Johan but he was busy looking in the other direction, “See anything?”

“Besides darkness?”

Yusei shook his head, not willing to start anything right now considering they had more pressing issues to worry about. Johan suddenly gasped, pointing forward. 

There was a person in front of them where none had been before. Even though his head was down, they could still see the red tunic top and light blue bottoms that were Judai’s traditional style. Tears clouded Johan’s vision. 

“Judai,” he breathed. He urged Rainbow forward but the creature refused, staying stubbornly in place. Johan tried again. “Please, it’s him. It’s Judai. Let’s grab him and go.”

“Something’s wrong,” Yusei said. Johan looked back once more. Judai was no longer alone. A dark energy surrounded him, dulling every bit of color in him and the person- no, the  _ thing _ \- encircled its arms around him, extending out their wings.

“Judai is mine,” it hissed. Johan glared.

“Judai is no one but his own,” he returned. “Give him back.” The creature laughed and the dragons hissed in response.

“Judai is my bonded.  _ We  _ are two sides of the same coin.” 

Yusei and Johan nearly collapsed at that bit of news.

Yusei’s mouth was dry as he asked, “You’re… You’re Judai’s dragon partner?”

“That’s not possible,” Johan shouted. “You look… you look….”

“Human,” it purred. It laughed again. “I was human at one time.” 

It waved a wing. To their left, a portal opened but it was more than that. Johan instantly recognized the baby face of the boy he loved, sitting in a room, drawing with crayons on some parchment he’d been given. He smiled happily, humming a song.

“Judai always had a way with dark powers. It made him the most feared individual in the Neo Kingdom. To protect him, his parents locked him away, fearful that he would be killed for either having these dark powers or for being a prince that was bonded, just like the prince of New Domino had been killed.” There came a soft knock at the door. It opened to reveal a blue haired boy, a few years older than Judai, entering. Judai immediately smiled and ran to him, wrapping his tiny arms around his waist. 

“Yubel! Look what I drew today!” He held up the picture. It was of muscular looking man but he had no mouth and weird fin shapes all around his body. “I named him Neo after the kingdom.” The boy Yubel crouched down, admiring the work.

“This is one of your best, your majesty.” Judai beamed. 

“Thank-you! Do you want to play cards with me?”

“Oh no you don’t,” Yubel smiled, ruffling his hair. Judai giggled and pulled away. “Lessons first then games.” He pouted.

“Oh alright.”

The scene shifted. Judai was older as was Yubel. The eldest was reading a passage to him but Judai wasn’t paying any attention. His eyes were on the blue sky outside, his chin resting in his hand. 

“What’s it like,” he finally asked. Yubel stopped reading and looked up. 

“What’s what like?”

“The outside world,” Judai clarified. “The world outside these four walls?” Yubel stared at him for a second, then sighed, and closed the book.

“Your majesty….”

“I know,” he cut him off, “it’s my fault I can’t go outside. I know people are scared of me but…” He looked longingly at the window. “I want to experience it. I want to know what it’s like.”

“I wasn’t going to say that,” Yubel whispered. “The world… it can be beautiful but cruel at the same time. It’s not your fault you’re here your majesty. Fate… it had something grander in store for you is all and people don’t know how to treat people who are as special as you. I’m sure you’ll get to see it one day.”

Judai smiled and the image shifted to something new. 

Judai was laying in bed. His brow was furrowed, sweat pouring down his face as he writhed in pain. Darkness oozed from his closed eyes, mouth, nose, ears, wherever it could find a way to escape. Thunder rolled. The old man who was leaning over him turned to look at the two people behind him, both regal in stature and neither of them allowing any emotions to show despite the fact that she gripped at his sleeve, their arms back a bit so no one could see. The doctor shook his head. “I’m afraid that it is his power you majesties. The darkness is trying to take over. There’s nothing I can do.” The queen sucked in a breath. The king’s fist shook as he tried to keep his composure. The doctor bowed his head. 

“There is one thing we may try,” another voice added. The three of them turned their heads. Hidden in the shadows of the room was a cloaked man, a twisted symbol hanging from his neck, which looked like a snake twisted around a broken staff. 

“What do you suggest then,” the king demanded. The man said nothing as he pulled a book from his cloak and opened it, skimming the pages carefully for a few seconds before slamming it shut.

“The Prince is bonded is he not?” The two shared a look but said nothing. “We must seal his dragon.” 

“Seal his dragon? What do you intend to do?”

“Sealing a dragon is to completely separate the two,” he elaborated. “It will lessen the extent to which his body is destroyed and increase his life. However, in order to do so, we must first combine the dragon with a human spirit….”

“Anything,” the queen cried, “Please. Please just save him.” The man bowed with a smirk.

“At once your majesty. It must be someone who is close to the prince. Nothing less will do….”

The scene faded away to nothing until screams remained. Yusei and Johan turned, wide eyed and hearts racing as they looked back at the creature holding Judai. It smirked. “That’s right. I was chosen. No,” it shook its head, “I volunteered for my beloved Prince so that he would live a long and healthy life but…” Its claws tightened and Judai threw back his head, gasping in pain as electricity surged through his body. “He forgot me. Threw me away like nothing." Yubel leaned in close, staring up at the two of them, "But I will change all of that. Judai and I have been using our time together wisely and you two will be the perfect test subjects!" Yubel released him, jumping back to disappear into the darkness again. Judai staggered forward. Yusei and Johan shared a look before sliding off their dragons. 

Johan hesitantly stepped forward, "Ju-Judai?"

Judai took a deep breath. He raised his head and the smirk on his face caused both of them to reach for their swords. His eyes shot open.

They were brilliantly gold. 

Judai lunged forward without a second thought, drawing his sword to stab at Johan. He dodged away. Yusei ran up. He swung his sword up to knock Judai's away but he was surprised when a wall of darkness rose up, blocking his sword then catching it and holding it tightly in place. Yusei grunted as he pulled at it. Johan lunged, his own sword now drawn, but Judai managed to parry the blow before twirling the blade and trying to stab at him again. Johan broke the hold and stepped back before coming in with a wide swing. He put both hands on the hilt. 

Stardust gave Yusei a hand. He swiped at the shadows which broke their hold on the sword. Judai turned as he then took his claw and tried to grab at him. He jumped. Johan pulled back so that he didn't accidentally hit Stardust. Yusei looked up at him. "Thanks Stardust." 

Stardust growled lowly as thanks. 

Judai, now standing some distance away, ordered in a weird, echoey voice, "Yubel, handle those dragons." It appeared behind him.

"As you wish my king." Yubel disappeared before coming down on Rainbow's neck in a hard downward kick. It cried out and Johan screamed, falling forward. Judai smirked.

"How pathetic," he teased, walking towards him. He lifted his face with the tip of his blade. "You have yet to even completely master your dragon and you dare to challenge me? I am the Supreme King. All will fall before me." Johan gritted his teeth.

"This isn't you Judai," he grunted. Johan swung up with his blade, knocking Judai's sword away. A bit of blood came from the cut on his chin. 

Back and forth. Back and forth. Back and forth. 

None of them, Yusei, Johan, Stardust, or Rainbow, could seem to get the upper hand. Yubel and Judai never seemed to waver and, unlike themselves, never seemed to be injured when the other was hit. 

Johan landed next to Yusei as Judai kicked him to the ground. 

Rainbow hit too. Right next to Stardust where he let out a sad whimper of pain. 

Yubel and Judai smirked above them. Judai again pointed his sword at Johan; only, this time, he was aimed at his chest. "Any last words?"

Johan's face twisted, "Judai…."

"Finish him my king," Yubel urged. Judai raised his sword, he placed both hands on it and, with a cry, stabbed downwards.

_ Mighty god of the heavens, bring forth your wrath on those who defy your will. Appear Osiris, Lord of the sky! _

The last thing Johan saw was a long, red dragon appearing in the darkness and, as it enveloped the world in light, Judai fell. 

He reached for him.

"Ju...dai…."

Johan’s eyes rolled back and he collapsed to the ground.


	14. Return

Judai was floating.

In and out.

Back and forth. 

Up and down.

Floating.

In darkness.

There was… nothing.

No.

Something.

He floated too.

Another him.

No, him.

Both were him.

Yet… not.

Floating with no connection to the world to tether them here anymore.

*****

“This is bad,” Mana said. “Really bad.” Mahad raised his eyebrow at her when she turned around with the parchment in her hand. They’d spent nearly a week searching for the symbol or indication of what Yusei and Johan had reported seeing… once they woke up of course. They’d taken some pretty nasty bruises. Yugi pretty much beat himself up for letting two newly minted bonded to deal with an issue like this and it took Atem dragging him off to his own room by the ear before he would think of falling asleep. That was the only reason the two of them where here now. Yugi hadn’t woken up yet. Atem had seen to that. Hopefully, he was sleeping as well since he’d had to summon one of his bonded in order to stop the creature called Yubel. Judai, who had been awakened as the Supreme King, was currently resting in the hospital next to Yubel, neither of them responsive despite several days having already passed. Yusei and Johan had only been out for a day.

If too much time passed, Mahad wasn’t sure that their bodies wouldn’t sustain quite a bit of damage. It was a race of time now. But, from the way Mana spoke, this was not going to be a pleasant thing. 

She came closer to him, holding out the parchment. He took it. The symbol of the broken staff with the twisted snake was mentioned in an old record. Apparently, a person wearing one had appeared in this kingdom many years before hand, back when Pharaoh Aknamkanon was still king, and he had advised in the creation of the Millenium items. 

That was a story of another day. 

Mahad’s brow furrowed. The scroll spoke of many things but mostly about how the man had used some dark magic to manipulate the kingdom into creating the Millenium Items through blood sacrifice. 

"Whoever this guy is, or was, is bad news," Mana noted. "He seems to cause chaos wherever he goes."

"You’re right but we can’t worry about that right now. His magic played a part in Yubel’s transformation and the disconnect in their connection; we just need some kind of idea of how to fix it. It may be the only way we can save them both." His eyes scanned the scroll again. 

This time, he spotted something. There was some cryptic writing in the corner. A… cipher of some kind. Isis would be helpful with this; maybe her Millenium Eye would give them a hint as to what they needed to do next. He signed. Just when he thought they'd found something, more puzzles.

"Find anything?" They turned to face Yugi who came in, rubbing his eyes. 

Mana glared, "Atem ordered you to bed."

"Hate to remind you but he's not my king," he sing-songed at her. "Besides, I know I slept half a day. I'm alright." Mana started to puff up but Mahad interrupted her, handing the parchment to Yugi. 

"We might have found something but it's hidden behind some kind of cryptic puzzle." Yugi raised an eyebrow and took it. His eyes scanned over it, his brow furrowing before his eyes completely changed, brightening in a second. 

"Not just any puzzle. It's a shift cipher."

"A shift what," Mana asked.

"Part puzzle, part safe way to keep the information from getting into the wrong hands.” He narrowed his eyes. “I think this one is a bit more complicated than that but give me a couple of hours and I should have some good news.” He moved past Mahad to take over one of the desks in the room, “Could one of you let Yusei and Johan know? Oh, and if they’re not sleeping, force one of them to bed at least.”

Mahad and Mana raised an eyebrow at the irony of his words but Mana stood, stretching her arms. 

“Guess I’ll go let them know.” Mahad nodded.

“Thanks Mana. I’ll stay to help him if he needs it.” She smiled, patting his shoulder as she walked out. The sun was burning down on the ground, and she had to shield her eyes from it for a second as she adjusted to the change in light. There was a lot of noise coming from the front of the palace; today was the day that Atem would hear the issues from the citizens and she smiled at the thought. He’d always been so kind. She’d never known him to not be concerned with the people around him at any point of time. Several people moved about. There was never a dull moment around here.

She stepped into the shade of the medical ward. Prince Judai, of course, had been given a private room not only for his status but to also accommodate Yubel. The beds were placed on both sides of the room. Seating had been provided for the other two who had not left the room since they’d woken up themselves. Johan, thankfully, was sleeping on one of the lounges, his head on his hands as the top of his body was angled up a bit. Yusei sat closed to Judai’s bed. He was gently holding his hand, running a thumb back and forth over his skin; she entered quietly and moved close to him, gently placing a hand on his shoulder. He jerked a bit. Yusei smiled up at her when he realized who it was. 

“Any luck?”

“Apparently,” she sighed. “We found some information about that man you saw. Yugi’s working on a code he left behind. We hope it’ll give us hint.” 

“If it’s Yugi, I’ve got nothing to worry about.”

“You’re right about that.” She smiled. “Yugi’s the best at puzzles and games. Nobody’s been able to beat him. Not even Atem and he’s just as much of a puzzle nerd.”

Yusei eyed her. He hesitated for a moment, “What’s the story with Yugi and this kingdom? I get that he was here before but something happened between him and Atem….” Mana sighed. 

She grabbed a stool and set next to him, “Yugi won’t say anything. He’s not that kind of person.” She smoothed her skirt. “Yugi was Atem’s lover. There was a lot that happened but by the time it ended, they couldn’t deny their feelings for each other. At first, it was great. They were so happy; Yugi loved helping Atem and interacting with the people of the kingdom but then…” Her eyes softened. “Yugi was hurt in an attack. A man named Dartz attacked the kingdom and Yugi sacrificed himself to save Atem; he was captured. It took us weeks to get him back. Atem blamed himself the whole time and, when he finally got him back, he started to distance himself from Yugi. To say Yugi wasn’t happy with that was an understatement. It was around that time that he met Gandora so he hoped that that would be proof to Atem that he would be safe but it didn’t work.” She chuckled darkly. “It finally took a slap across the face and Yugi leaving before he finally realized what he’d done.”

Yusei let out a chuckle. “Yugi didn’t move too far.”

“We know,” she smiled. “Mahad and I were worried. Gandora knew we were watching.” 

“I don’t think he’ll be able to stay mad at him. The Pharaoh’s been trying to apologize at least.” 

“Yeah but Yugi’s a stubborn one. He’s going to stonewall him for a bit.” She pursed her lips, twisting them into a pout. “I’ll just have to lock them in a room until they apologize and make up and Yugi doesn’t go away.”

“Let me know if I can help.” She laughed. 

“Gandora will be more than enough.”

Someone moved. They turned to find Johan sitting up, rubbing at his eyes. He blinked at Mana before moving closer. She smiled and repeated the good news to him and his face lit up. He traded with Yusei. Mana stood again. With a final wave, she waved to return to check on Mahad and Yugi.

It was still going to be a long day.

*****

Yugi jumped up, “I got it! I know how to save Judai.” Mahad, who had been forced to put his head down and take a nap, raised his head. 

“You deciphered it?”

“Yes but… It looks like that man wasn’t even sure if it would work.” He handed the parchment over to Mahad who read what he was talking about. Mahad’s face twisted. 

“We should call everyone together. We will need to discuss this.” He nodded. Two days had passed since finding the scroll and Mahad was impressed at Yugi’s ability and intelligence. They walked quickly to Atem’s office where most of the city planning occurred. Even though the sun had gone down, there was no question to either of them that they would still be working, Atem and the rest of the priests. They were all stubborn, loyal idiots. They, thankfully, ran into Mana along the way who had gone to spoil the dragons a bit and she was excited to go get Yusei and Johan from Medical and Aki from the library where she had been spending a lot of her time. 

Everyone met within thirty minutes in Atem’s office.

Yugi laid the parchment on the table, “Okay so to boil this down a bit: This guy used a complex encryption table to hide the information. There are three levels to it: the final level is the result of the scrambling. The first decryption level helps to give us the ‘key’ which is the pattern we’ll use to decrypt the message. Once we have that, we use the key and the ciphertext to find the original text. This guy took it to the next level and changed every line so I had to reset the code every time I looked at something new.” He shook his head. “But I managed to get it done. There’s some complex magic involved so I’ll let Mahad explain it.”

Mahad leaned forward, “According to this, Judai is the reincarnated being of the Supreme King, a powerful being with the ability to control the ‘gentle darkness’.”

“What,” Johan asked. 

“If we think of everything in this world as being a balance, then if there is the darkness that destroys, then it makes sense that there is a darkness that is kind.” He absently touched the Millenium ring around his neck, “This man is a scientist. He studies. He doesn’t care for the consequences; it looks like he is looking into the potential of darkness. The Millenium items and Yubel are proof of this. For what purpose, it’s impossible to tell right now but we can bet it’s not going to be good.” He looked around the room, his eyes going hard. “Now, he has a theory about something like this happening… Yubel, who was corrupted and essentially feeding the Supreme King before the splicing, would one day try to get Judai back since the splicing essentially severed their connection. He writes that if that were to happen, it would be nearly impossible to stop either of them since the King in Judai would awaken, which we’ve seen, and Yubel would be made stronger from his power, which we’ve proven. However, the jagged connections between their souls would cause massive damage in their minds and bodies; essentially, if left alone, the two of them would have been put in their current state anyway, just with no one to help them.” He placed his hand on the parchment. “The only way to save either of them is to fuse their spirits together.”

The silence stretched. Aki and Mana both covered their mouths in shock. Yusei grabbed Johan’s shoulder as he suddenly looked faint. Yugi looked away. The other priests and Atem shared a look. 

Mahad straightened, “This isn’t a guarantee it’ll work. He only theorized that it would work. There’s no way to know for sure. It could be dangerous for everyone involved….”

“Do it.” Everybody turned to look at Johan who had straightened and gently broken from Yusei’s grasp. “Do it. If it has even the tiniest chance of saving him, then we should do it.” Mahad eyed Set, Isis, and Shada. They looked to him for an answer. Mahad turned back. 

“We would be binding Yubel to him forever. Are you sure that’s something he would want?” Johan hesitated. 

Aki stepped forward this time, “Why don’t we ask him then?”

“Did you forget the part where he can’t talk to us right now,” Set snarked. She stared him down. 

“We can’t but the spirits can.” She turned to Johan. “If we combine our energies with Rainbow Dragon, we could be able to break through and tell him what’s going on.” 

“Let’s try it,” Yugi urged. “It’s better than doing nothing right now.” Everyone nodded. 

Johan was the first out of the room, quickly followed by Aki, Yusei, Yugi, and Mana. The priests stayed behind to discuss the spell they would need for the ritual. 

It took minutes to set it up. By the time they were done, Aki and Johan stood on opposites of Judai’s bed. They nodded and held their hands up towards each other, closing their eyes. Rainbow Dragon roared. The jewels along its body lit up. A rainbow of light washed over the courtyard and into the window of the room. Johan and Aki glowed. 

_ Kuri _ !

Johan smiled.  _ We’ll hold the door for you Winged Kuriboh. Get to him _ .

Another chirp. Then, Winged Kuriboh disappeared into Judai’s mind.

*****

Jagged.

The lines were jagged.

They stabbed at every part of him.

Judai didn’t know if he could hold on.

He could hear…

The accusations.

The betrayal.

His fault.

The pain.

His fault.

His…

_ Kuri! _

He opened his eyes a bit. They felt heavy and unfocused as he looked upon Winged Kuriboh who flew to him, nuzzling his cheek. 

_ Winged Kuriboh _ .

The fuzz ball chirped again. It quickly talked to him about the outside world. Judai’s eyes struggled to go wide. He hesitated but then told him,  _ Tell them I said yes. It’s my fault Yubel turned out this way. I’m willing to fix it so we can help Yusei. _

Kuriboh chirped. Judai closed his eyes again as he disappeared into a rainbow of light.

*****

“Everyone ready?”

Everyone nodded to Mahad who was leading the spell. The circle included him, Set, Isis, Shada, and Atem. They were going to pull all the magic they could; one wrong step could kill them all. All the dragons roared. They too were going to help. Yusei nodded. He stood behind Atem and Mahad. Aki did too. She was opposite him. Mahad was banking on their Crimson Dragon marks to give them just the push they needed to get them all out safely. 

"Okay. Remember, we take this slow and careful. We're trusting the words of a madman." Everyone nodded again. He took a deep breath and raised his hands. The rest joined him.

He began chanting in the language Johan and Yusei couldn't understand again. Light began to come from their feet then the Millenium Items. The dragons hummed as they too began to glow. Slowly, one by one, they added in their energies to the magic. Yusei and Aki watched as their raised arms began to glow with their Dragon symbols. A few minutes after it began, the spell began to work. Yubel and Judai rose up into the air until they were enveloped in a ball of light. Lightning sparked around it. It reached out to the spell casters and Isis hissed as one hit her shoulder. She didn't let it stop her; she straightened and continued focusing on the magic.

Finally, the ball lowered and exploded in a sparkle of light. 

Only Judai remained. 

Everyone collapsed then. Johan, who had been on the fringes with the dragons, stepped forward, looking hesitantly at Judai. 

Yusei sat up, panting. 

Judai stirred. His eyes fluttered and he groaned. Johan gasped and rushed forward as he sat up, holding his head. He opened his eyes wide and Johan wss flabbergasted as he watched them shift from their normal brown to orange and green to gold and then back to brown. 

"Johan," he asked. "What happened? Where are we?"

Johan sniffed. He closed the distance, catching Judai around the neck, holding him tightly, "You're back. You're finally back!" He frowned, confused for a moment, until the tears welled up and the memories came back. Judai raised his hands to hug him back.

"I'm so sorry," he breathed. "It's my fault."

"Don't talk like that," Yusei said. "You can't blame yourself for things out of your control." 

"Everything came out alright in the end," Yugi added. "You've got your dragon now. Not in a traditional sense but you've got them." Judai nodded and pushed back a bit from Johan. He took a deep breath. 

"I think… I know Yubel' s spirit is tied to me but… I think there's one more."

"Probably the Supreme King," Mahad mused. Judai looked at him confused. "We'll explain everything. How about a meal first?"

Judai's stomach rumbled. 

Everyone laughed. Johan stood and offered a hand. Yusei walked up and offered one as well. Judai smiled and took both.

The three of them didn't let go until they finally made it to the dinning hall.


	15. The Black Crows

After everyone was caught up on what had happened, they took a day off from doing anything. Judai was excited to meet Rainbow Dragon and Stardust as well as Aki and her partner. He was certainly interested in what Aki could do with her powers. They talked for hours about their abilities and he really felt a kindred spirit within her.  ** **   
** **

He also used that time to observe Johan and Yusei.  ** **   
** **

The two had gotten close in his absences. They gave each other little touches and smiles that made him feel weird. He wasn't the jealous type but…. ** **   
** **

"What do you think of Yusei," he asked Johan when they were alone. Yusei had taken Stardust out for a flight to stretch his wings and to build their bond. They'd stayed behind to have a moment alone (and to wash some of the sand off of Rainbow Dragon). Johan stopped scrubbing. He turned, wide eyed, to look at him but Judai kept his eyes squarely on Rainbow Dragon's scales. "I mean… it looks like you two have gotten… close…." ** **   
** **

Johan blinked then smiled softly. He took a breath, "I like Yusei." Ice shot through Judai's body but before he could say anything, Johan continued with, “But that doesn't mean I love you any less. You're both important to me. Maybe my words are shocking but it just feels natural to be in love with him and you at the same time and I want to be honest to both of you about my feelings." Judai swallowed hard.  ** **   
** **

"Thank you Johan," he said. "I'm glad you told me." ** **   
** **

Johan eyed him, "You… you aren't uncomfortable with it are you?" Judai shook his head.  ** **   
** **

"I'm not! Promise." He smiled then. "Besides, it wouldn't be fair to you if I'm uncomfortable with you like Yusei and I've got two spirits attached to me now." ** **   
** **

Johan chuckled. "It's going to be interesting, that's for sure." They started scrubbing at the dragon again. It was silent between the two for a few minutes until Stardust roared and landed beside Rainbow, kicking up sand and hitting the three of them with it. The two princes shield their eyes. "Hey!" ** **   
** **

"Sorry," Yusei laughed.  ** **   
** **

Judai glared playfully at him, "We just cleaned this dragon!" ** **   
** **

He walked up to them and Rainbow whined at him. He patted his neck. "Our bad. I'm sure Stardust wouldn't mind helping clean him off again." Stardust huffed and turned away. Rainbow growled lowly but it wasn't threatening by any means. The three of them chuckled. Yusei grabbed a rag, "Okay, I guess I'll help instead." It took less time for them to finish cleaning the side that had been hit with the sand and the three of them went inside to clean up before meeting with everyone else to discuss strategies.  ** **   
** **

"Now that everyone is back together and safe," Atem started as they say around the planning table, "we can return our focus to New Domino." A well painted map decorated the table with the world. Yusei was impressed to see how far they'd travel. It would take at least a week to return to New Domino's outermost border even with dragons. "Isis, has there been any change with your visions?" She shook her head.  ** **   
** **

"No, I am still unable to see into the kingdom." He nodded.  ** **   
** **

"Then the power is not fading which we could guess. And what news from the spies we sent?"  ** **   
** **

Shada frowned, "No more slave caravans are leaving the kingdom but there are still hordes of people going missing from the Satellite. Men and women in black cloaks have been leading the people away and no one is seeing them again. There have also been bursts of some strange energy coming from the Island but no one knows where it is coming from or what it is."  ** **   
** **

Judai frowned down at the map. Suddenly, he felt a tingling sensation in his body and heard the words  _ The balance is broken. _ ** **   
** **

"The balance is broken," he said. All eyes turned to him. Judai took a deep breath and closed his own. When he opened them again, they had shifted- orange and green. Mahad raised an eyebrow.  ** **   
** **

"Yubel." Judai nodded.  ** **   
** **

"Yes," he said with a weird echo to his voice. "I know I am the last person any of you wish to hear from…." ** **   
** **

"We can't blame you for what happened," Mana interjected.  ** **   
** **

"That weird man is to blame for your problems," Aki assured it. Judai closed his eyes. ** **   
** **

"Thank you," Yubel responded. They opened his eyes again. "Judai and I are tied to the Supreme King. As such, our powers lie in and with darkness. We can sense the balance between both the light and the dark and we sense that the balance has been undone." They pointed to the map. ** **   
** **

More specifically, the Satellite.  ** **   
** **

"Light is coming from there." They sat back. "And we should be very concerned with it." ** **   
** **

"Why's that," Yusei asked. Yubel stared at him directly. ** **   
** **

"Because we can pinpoint exactly where it's coming from countries away." ** **   
** **

Everyone looked at each other nervously. Good point. Judai took a shuddering breath and switched back. He leaned forward a bit. "We should move. We can't waste anymore time wondering what's going on. We just have to go and address it head on."  ** **   
** **

Everyone nodded. Atem stood, "Rex Goodwin has been allowed to do as he will for too long. My army will support you." ** **   
** **

Yusei nodded, "We should move at dawn. We'll need to get back there as soon as possible."  ** **   
** **

"What about the prince," Judai asked. "Should we try to convince him to join our side?" ** **   
** **

Yusei frowned, "The prince is already on our side. He's just… powerless to do anything right now." ** **   
** **

"But it's his kingdom. Why can't he do anything?" ** **   
** **

Yusei paused. "He… has no proof. He had it at one time but it was stolen from him. There's no way right now to get it back." He signed. "And right now, there's no way to get it back." ** **   
** **

"We'll figure something out," Judai promised.  ** **   
** **

"Gandora and I will go with you as well," Yugi added. Yusei nodded.  ** **   
** **

"Thank you Yugi." Atem frowned but didn't let the emotion linger. ** **   
** **

"Then let us prepare ourselves for the morning," he encouraged. Everyone nodded and broke away, heading to their rooms for the evening.  ** **   
** **

*****

A week passed.  ** **   
** **

The dark sky covered their entry into the skies of New Domino. Aki shivered and stated that she wouldn't be surprised if Goodwin knew they were coming; it was a powerful barrier that surrounded the kingdom and probably gave him eyes wherever he needed them. ** **   
** **

"Then let's not linger," Yusei said. "Follow me. Hopefully Crow hasn't moved his camp. It's been a while since we've talked though." Stardust banked at Yusei's touch and the other dragons followed. They flew low over the tops of the crumbled old buildings. Satellite reminded both Yugi and Aki very quickly of the Waste, barren and dead….. ** **   
** **

They flew towards an old dock. Yusei pointed to a clearing and they started to land when a red fireball came out of nowhere, nearly hitting both Gandora and Stardust. ** **   
** **

"Woah," Yugi shouted as they dodged quickly. Yusei gritted his teeth. ** **   
** **

"Dodge if you have to but wait here. I know that fireball anywhere."  ** **   
** **

Stardust angled down. The three others stayed back as ordered as Yusei flew towards where the shot had come from. Then there came another. Stardust roared and dodged again.  ** **   
** **

The dragon that was shooting looked dark and ethereal in a sense. It had the face of a bird like monster and large feathers on its wings. It was red, black, and gray in color. It roared in warning at them. Stardust roared back. ** **   
** **

"Crow," Yusei shouted, "stop shooting at us! It's me! Yusei!"  ** **   
** **

Black Feather Dragon growled in confusion. After a few seconds, it flew up higher so that it's rider could be seen. He had a shock of orange hair and was marked like Yusei was. He wore a brown vest over a gold top with olive green pants. His eyes went wide.  ** **   
** **

"Yusei! You got a dragon!" ** **   
** **

"Glad you remember me," he teased, "and yeah I did. I'm not alone though. We need to talk." Crow raised an eyebrow. ** **   
** **

"You're here about the weird things that have been going on?"  ** **   
** **

"We are." He motioned backwards. "I brought the calvary to help figure it out." Crow looked up at the other dragons. ** **   
** **

"Then we better land and talk about it. The kids will be happy to see you again at least." ** **   
** **

Yusei smirked and nodded. He waved back to the others and the lot of them dove down, landing in the clearing next to Black Feather. Crow jumped from his dragon and walked up to Yusei, greeting him with an outstretched hand. The two grasped. Yusei looked at the others, "Guys, this is Crow. He's an old friend of mine; we grew up together in the same orphanage." ** **   
** **

"Speaking of, Martha's been harking about you coming back to visit," he teased. "She knows you're busy with the Junk Warriors but would it kill you to drop a line every now and then?" ** **   
** **

"Honestly? Probably." Crow rolled his eyes.  ** **   
** **

"Anyway. Welcome to the home of the Black Crows. We're not as big an operation as The Junk Warriors but we help where we can.” He turned, smiling. “It’s alright everyone! You can come out. It’s Yusei!”  ** **   
** **

Judai, Johan, Yugi, and Aki couldn’t believe their eyes. ** **   
** **

A lot of kids came running out of the woodworks. They came out of barrels and houses, off roofs, and the shadows of different alleyways. They ran up to Crow and Yusei, hugging both of them excited. They smiled and hugged and greeted the kids and Yugi stepped forward, “The Black Crows are all kids?” ** **   
** **

Crow scratched his check, “Well… I’m mostly the Black Crow. People just added the ‘s’ as time went on.” He petted one of the kids, as he continued, “I spend a lot of my time rescuing the kids. Some are orphans; they have no family to go home to no matter what and the rest… Well, I’m watching them until the Junk Warriors can find their parents. Speaking of. How are the others doing Yusei?” ** **   
** **

Yusei’s face twisted for a second. He smiled at all the kids and pointed to the dragons, “Why don’t you guys go greet our dragons? Black Feather isn’t the only one any more.” Their faces lit up. They all immediately cheered and ran to greet them and the dragons all ducked their heads to play with the kids. ** **   
** **

Crow looked seriously at him, “I know that look. What happened?” ** **   
** **

Yusei recounted everything that happened. He told about the attack and their adventures in the Millennium Kingdom. Crow’s fists tightened the more he talked until he finally punched the side of one of the buildings. “Damn. I’m going to punch Jack when we see him again.” ** **   
** **

Judai raised an eyebrow, “You know the white knight?” ** **   
** **

Crow looked at Yusei. “You didn’t tell them?” ** **   
** **

“I told them what I thought I needed to tell them at the time.” He shrugged. “Then we never got a chance to talk after that. It got a bit busy.”  ** **   
** **

“Riiiight,” Crow replied. “You better tell them then. It would be better coming from you and not me.” ** **   
** **

All of them looked at him and Yusei sighed, leaning back against the building. “I told Judai and Johan at least how I got this mark and why I created the Junk Warriors. To shorten the long story: I went to New Domino to find a friend. I was caught and marked as a Satellite then thrown in their jail for a bit. I got out and started the Junk Warriors to rescue the people who were being kidnapped from here.” He paused. “The thing is… the friend I went to rescue… was Jack. Jack Atlas.” ** **   
** **

Johan and Judai’s faces paled. Aki stepped forward, “You’re saying the White Knight, Goodwin’s lap dog is your friend?” Yusei nodded. ** **   
** **

“At least he was,” Crow said, “until he betrayed….” He stopped, looking at Yusei.  ** **   
** **

“We’re friends with the prince of New Domino,” Yusei said slowly. “Jack betrayed him. He took the one piece of evidence that would prove that he is the prince: a pendant with a unique symbol of the Royal Family.” ** **   
** **

“But why would he do that,” Yugi asked. ** **   
** **

“Jack’s got the ego of a Prince,” Crow chuckled darkly, “but… he lost everything in Zero Reverse. Both of his parents died. Same as mine and Yusei’s.” His eyes glazed a bit in memory, “We were all raised in the same orphanage by Martha. She did her best to raise us but Jack always felt like he’d been betrayed and when he discovered who the prince really was… well, let’s say, he couldn’t handle it. He was jealous.” ** **   
** **

“Jack’s always been in competition with him,” Yusei added thoughtfully. “But nobody saw his betrayal coming.”  ** **   
** **

“I’m still gonna punch him in the face when we see him.” ** **   
** **

“You can add my punch in too,” Johan said. ** **   
** **

“Might as well give me a round,” Judai added. “He hurt Rally and the others.” Yusei smiled. ** **   
** **

“Thank you all.” He looked over at the dragons. “It’s getting late though. Let’s get the kids into bed and go ourselves. We can strategize once we’ve had a good night’s sleep.”  ** **   
** **

Everyone agreed. The dragon’s were pretty thankful when they finally were rescued from the kids who were excited to be ushered off to bed by the different older people before they too went to sleep. Yusei and Crow were the last two. They sat up, staring at the kingdom across the ocean. Nothing was said between them for the longest time until Crow finally said, “Why didn’t you tell them? About the prince.” ** **   
** **

“It’s not safe yet,” Yusei replied. “Especially since he can’t prove it right now. It’s best to keep him anonymous for now until we can get our hands back on that pendant. It’s the only thing that will prove he’s the rightful heir to the throne.”  ** **   
** **

Crow nodded, “Right but Yusei? You can’t keep that secret forever. It’s going to have to be outed and, the way those lights are showing up and the people are disappearing, it’s going to have to be sooner rather than later.” Yusei didn’t respond. Crow yawned and stood, patting him on the shoulder. “You’re on first watch then. I’ll see you in an hour.”  ** **   
** **

“Night Crow,” he mumbled. The other man waved and disappeared into one of the houses. Yusei continued to stare out across the waters between the two places. He frowned, remembering that he still had to find Rally, Nerve, Blitz, and Taka, and the rest of the Junk Warriors. His fists tightened. The night was quiet. A gentle sea breeze rolled across the land and over his exposed skin; he closed his eyes and breathed in deep. Stardust’s head appeared next to him. Yusei smiled, petting him as the dragon curled around him, dropping his wing a bit to block some of the cool wind. “Thanks.” Stardust purred. They stayed like that for several minutes until something moved to their right. Both of them whipped their heads around. ** **   
** **

A person was standing there. He’d come in quietly, almost like a shadow despite how he dressed. Yusei stood quickly and Stardust let out a low warning growl.  ** **   
** **

“Jack.”  ** **   
** **

Jack Atlas emerged completely from the shadows. He eyed the camp before glaring Yusei down, “I see you’ve finally found your dragon. Now we can really see who the strongest out of us.” Yusei shook his head. ** **   
** **

“I don’t care about that. Take the damn title if you want it.” Yusei held out his hand, “What I want is the prince’s pendant. You need to give it back so we can get rid of Goodwin.” Jack stared at him. ** **   
** **

“Have you lost your mind? Did you forget who I work for?” He reached into the front of his tunic and Yusei finally noticed that he wasn’t wearing his signature white armour. He pulled out a silver chained pendant with a twisting star design, circled by a black and white dragon. Yusei jerked. ** **   
** **

“Hand it over Jack.” ** **   
** **

“Not until you and I finish what we started,” he indicated, wrapping the chain around his wrist. “You want it, you have to fight me for it.” Yusei gritted his teeth and looked around. Here would be a horrible decision. He turned towards Stardust. ** **   
** **

“Fine. We’ll settle it at our old stomping grounds.” ** **   
** **

“Fine by me. A fitting place for a fitting end.”  ** **   
** **

Two dragons took off a moment later. ** **   
** **

***** ** **   
** **

“This brings back quite a few memories,” Jack gloated, “Of me always kicking your butt.” Yusei glared. Stardust growled in front of him.  ** **   
** **

“Get your memory checked then.” His fists tightened, “I don’t blame you Jack. I get it. I do. I understand why you did the things you did but what I can’t forgive the pain you’ve caused for Rally and the others. Where are they? What have you done with them?” Jack shrugged. ** **   
** **

“Who knows? I turned them into Goodwin as ordered.” ** **   
** **

“Jack!” ** **   
** **

“Are we going to do this or not?” He threw a hand forward, “Otherwise, I’ll just end it before it even begins.” Stardust roared and stepped forward, Yusei gritting his teeth as he too threw a hand forward.  ** **   
** **

Red Archfiend stepped around his partner and turned a bit, lashing out with his tail. Stardust blocked it with a wing before lunging forward with a claw. Archfiend blocked as well. He grabbed Stardust’s wrist and spun, flinging him off into an old, dilapidated building that crumbled upon his impact. Yusei cried out as the pain shot through his back. He staggered. Stardust lifted himself from the rubble, shaking to get rid of some of the dust, only to be taken by surprise by Archfiend landing in front of him, his fist lit up with fire. Yusei’s eyes went wide.  ** **   
** **

“Stardust!” ** **   
** **

Stardust howled and jumped up, flapping to quickly dodge the hit. He hovered for a moment. Then, allowing his breath to build, he shot down until he was enveloped in it, shooting straight down at the other dragon. Red Archfiend met him with another fire punch. The explosion was loud. Yusei covered his face from the heat. Jack watched it without flinching. The battle was intense and only getting worse. It wouldn’t be too long until those who remained noticed or one of them finally went down for good. He had to do something. ** **   
** **

Jack smirked. “This is the end Yusei. Finish him Red Archfiend!”  ** **   
** **

He roared. His grip tightened on Stardust’s claws, forcing him down to his knees. Stardust groaned loudly. ** **   
** **

Until he whipped his tail out, wrapping it around Archfiend’s ankle.  ** **   
** **

He pulled his feet out from under him.  ** **   
** **

Both dragons suddenly were dragged apart from each other when they were wrapped in several different bands. Yusei and Jack covered their eyes. Light surrounded them all and their vision swam before finally go dark. ** **   
** **

The only evidence of their having been there was the pendant left on the ground, its chain broken in the sudden attack. ** **   
** **

***** ** **   
** **

Judai jerked awake. For what reason, he didn’t know but he felt sick and nauseous until he finally had to get up and run outside, getting sick in a spare bucket he found. A soft hand touched his back. He looked up to find Johan standing over him, looking very concerned.  ** **   
** **

“You alright there Judai?” He nodded, wiping at his mouth. ** **   
** **

“I’m fine now. Just got sick all the sudden.” ** **   
** **

“We haven’t eaten since yesterday. Maybe that’s the reason why?” ** **   
** **

“Maybe.” They straightened. Much to their surprise, a figure appeared next to them and they both instantly realized that it was Yubel appearing beside them.  ** **   
** **

_ It wasn’t lack of eating _ , they clarified,  _ The Supreme King and your body reacted to an influx of light.  _ ** **   
** **

“What do you mean by that,” Johan asked. Yubel’s eyes closed. ** **   
** **

_ There’s been a growth again in the Light _ .  _ The very thing we’ve come to address. It was the strongest we’ve felt yet. _ ** **   
** **

“Johan,” Judai breathed. “Where’s Yusei? He’s supposed to be on guard.” The three of them looked around and found that he was nowhere to be seen. Crow was though. He came running up to them, breathing hard.  ** **   
** **

“Johan, Judai,” he panted, “Yusei’s gone and I got a bad feeling about it. Come with me real quick.” Yubel faded from sight and the two of them followed him to the docks where he pointed to a set of footprints. One was human size. The other, dragon. “I left Yusei here an hour ago to watch. It looks like Stardust joined him but then….” He pointed to a completely different set. “Someone else and their dragon showed up and I got three guesses who it was.” ** **   
** **

“Jack,” Johan said. Crow nodded and dropped his hand.  ** **   
** **

“I also have three guesses where they went and I’m pretty sure I know why. Grab Rainbow Dragon. Judai, help me wake up Yugi and Aki and we’ll ride out there together.”  ** **   
** **

He nodded and the three of them divided. Not even thirty minutes later, all of them were airborne, following behind Black Feather as they flew towards a large dillapitated area where there were clear signs of a battle having gone on. Crow saw something as they hovered low over the ground. He squinted. That clearly didn’t help so he directed Black Feather to the ground; once there, he jumped down to grab the item. His eyes widened. He dusted it off a bit before joining the others. Crow tightened his fist around the item before looking them squarely in the face.  ** **   
** **

“We’ve got a huge problem. Yusei’s gone. Jack too.” ** **   
** **

“Gone,” Aki asked.  ** **   
** **

Yugi’s brow furrowed, “Where would they have gone?”  ** **   
** **

“Goodwin probably has them,” Crow replied solemnly. He opened his hand, revealing the pendant inside. Yugi looked up sharply. ** **   
** **

“That isn’t…?” ** **   
** **

“It is,” he confirmed. “Jack had the pendant. He stole it from Yusei.” It took a moment for the words to set in and when they did, the four of them gasped.  ** **   
** **

“Yusei….” ** **   
** **

“You mean he’s….?” ** **   
** **

“YUSEI’S THE PRINCE OF NEW DOMINO,” Judai screamed. Crow nodded, putting the pendant into shirt.  ** **   
** **

“He didn’t want to tell you all. Knowing him, he probably thought it would put you in even more danger.” Crow’s face softened. “He’s always thinking about protecting his friends no matter what and all of you matter quite a bit to him. But…. I think we need to go after them.” ** **   
** **

“What about the kids though,” Aki asked. Crow smiled. ** **   
** **

“They’ll be alright.” He smirked. “But that means we'll have to give Martha a visit first. She’ll be sure to take good care of them.” ** **   
** **

“Then what are we waiting for,” Judai asked. “Let’s go.”  ** **   
** **

Everyone turned to their dragons and took off. A silent prayer went between them that they would get to Yusei before anything could happen to him.


	16. Truths

It took them no time at all to get to Martha’s place. The house was pretty beat down like most of the other buildings around it but it looked a little more maintained. It at least had a somewhat decent paint job and some repairs done on the roof. It probably could’ve passed as a regular house if it was attached again to the kingdom. Judai was pretty impressed. They landed their dragons in the field adjacent to the house and Crow jumped down first, smiling as he ran up to the woman standing there watching them despite the fact it was stupid early in the morning. She had a brilliant smile on her face. Martha was dressed somewhat like a sister from one of the convents but she did not wear a head covering. Her dreads were beautiful as they framed her wide face; the wine red of her dress complimented her earth colored skin amazingly. Her white apron was a bit dirty from having to clean earlier that day but that didn’t stop her from hugging Crow when he finally reached her.

“It’s about time you came to visit,” she teased, placing a gentle kiss on his cheek. “Welcome back Crow. Who are your friends?” Crow pushed back a bit, his smile never dimming.

“Martha, these are Judai, Johan, Aki, and Yugi. They’re all here to help Yusei fix the kingdom.” Her eyes flashed.

“Oh? So they know?”

“They do now.” He reached into his shirt again, pulling out the pendant. Martha recognized it immediately.

“What happened? Where’s Yusei?”

“That’s what we need to find out,” Yugi said, stepping forward.

“I think he and Jack were fighting earlier,” Crow said. “We found evidence of it but they’re both gone. I think they may be back at New Domino. Goodwin might have him by now.”

“Then it’s going to be best if we all head inside to talk.” She eyed the Judai and Johan. “You two. You wouldn’t happen to be Prince Johan and Prince Judai right?”

They shared a look and Crow blinked. “You two are princes? What the hell are you doing travelling around with Yusei?”

“Uh...well that’s….”

“They ran away from Duel Academy,” another voice cut in. Judai’s eyes went wide when he looked over to the front of the house and saw a group of people standing there. He recognized most of them- Asuka, Sho, Ryo, Jun, and Fubuki- stood in their night wear at the door. Asuka, despite not having most of her armour on, still looked intimidating as she crossed her arms, glaring at him. He raised his hands. 

“H-hey there Asuka….”

“Don’t you dare ‘Hey there Asuka’ me,” she snapped. She marched up to him and Judai shrunk away, using Johan as a shield. “Do you know how much worry you had us in your majesty? We’ve been looking all over the kingdom for you!”

“Gave us a run for our money you two did,” a foreign accent added. Johan blinked as the last two appeared. 

“Jim? O’Brien? What are you two doing here?” O’Brien pointed a thumb at the other group. 

“Same as them. Looking for you.” His eyes hardened. “But from the looks of it, we’ve got bigger issues to worry about.”

“That’s an understatement,” Yugi said. All eyes turned to him. “We’ve been through a lot but the worst of it is on it’s way. So could you please not kill Judai just yet? We’re going to need his assistance.” He looked at all of them. “New Domino is in trouble.”

“Little bit more than that,” Judai said. “Probably all of our kingdoms. Especially if what Yubel told us earlier was true.”

Yugi raised an eyebrow, “You spoke to them again?”

“I got sick around the time Yusei disappeared,” he explained. “Yubel said it was from the influx of Light. There’s a lot of it. Whatever is going to happen is going to rival Zero Reverse.”

“Hold on a second,” Jun complained. Even at night, he still had thrown on his tattered black jacket and, as he stepped forward, it fluttered in his wake. “What the heck are you talking about?”

Their part of the group looked at each other and sighed. It was going to be another long round of story sharing. Martha sensed this and she sighed herself, putting her hands on her hips. “Well, we can get into that in a little bit. It’s not going to do us any good if anyone is tired or hungry. Let’s go in and get a good breakfast going. We can talk over that.” 

Judai started to say something but Martha cut him off. She moved around him and began nudging him inside the house. Crow just shrugged. He followed without question. Everyone else followed him.

There was no stopping Martha when she knew she was right.

******

“Really? All of that really happened,” Sho asked. Judai nodded, pushing his eggs around on his plate. They all sat around the large dining table in Martha’s home, eating breakfast they’d all helped to prepare in one way, shape, or form.

“We wouldn’t be sitting here otherwise,” Aki replied. She had grown more relaxed in the last week and was beautifully showing the strong personality she’d given Yugi and Yusei a chance to see in the Waste. “But our biggest issue is getting Yusei back right now and not the validity of our statements. I mean, Judai could probably just have Yubel talk if you don’t believe us.” 

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Judai said. “We’re not doing so good right now. The amount of Light around here is making us really, really sick.” 

Johan reached over, stroking some of his hair back, “You’re not going to be sick again are you?” He shook his head. 

“Not right now.”

Fubuki, who had been listening, raised an eyebrow and laced his fingers under his chin as he stared at the two of them. “Pardon me your majesties but… how long have you two been dating?” Johan and Judai froze. Everyone else in the room blinked and looked at them in shock except for Yugi, Jim, and O’Brien.

Judai flushed a bit, “Um… yeah…..” They gave an excited shout. 

“When did this happen?”

“Were you just going to keep silent?”

“Congratulations!”

Johan blushed this time and took Judai’s hand under the table, giving it a gentle squeeze. Whatever underlying worry there had been about them being accepted… it was blown out of the water. It was exciting. To say the least.

At least, their very small group of friends accepted.

“Moving on,” Jun said, “We’re going to need to get into that castle if we have any hope of finding Yusei.” 

“What if we use Judai’s and Johan’s princes status,” Jun volunteered.

“It probably won’t work,” Ryo said.

“Right, remember: That Jack guy told us Goodwin already knew about the princes so he’d recognize them immediately if they tried to get anywhere near the castle,” Fubuki said.

Crow raised an eyebrow, “Jack talked to you guys?” Fubuki nodded.

Jim replied, “Yeah. He approached a mutual friend to get some help investigating the disappearances here on the Satellite.” 

“He was concerned that something was happening here with the people but he didn’t actually know what was going on. We don’t know what the triggering event was but he was concerned enough to want to investigate but couldn’t because of how close he is to Goodwin.” 

Johan and Judai shared a look. “I think we can name the event. It was back when he attacked the Junk Warriors. Yusei said something about the kidnappings to him.”

“That would make sense,” Jim mused. 

O’Brien sat back in his seat, crossing his arms. His brow furrowed. “Okay, that mystery is solved but now we’ve got to figure out how we’re going to get into the castle. My money’s on Yusei being there. We know about the Facility but if Goodwin is going to try and stop him from getting the throne back, it would be best to keep him locked in close to home; in eye-shot in case he decides to get a bit rowdy.”

“Stardust has to be there too,” Judai added. “If we can get him out, it would be a good distraction with all the dragons.”

Yugi frowned, “Let’s not forget that Atem is sending his army as well. They should be arriving within the next couple of days.” 

“I don’t think we can wait that long,” Judai said. “I just felt the Light get a bit stronger again. It has to be close to whatever it’s after.” 

“Then I propose we do this,” Yugi again said. He stood, looking everyone squarely in the face. “We need to get back to New Domino kingdom tonight. All of us. Our first task is to figure out a way to get into that castle.”

“We can stay with Carly and the twins,” Fubuki said.

“Should we really get them involved anymore,” Ryo asked. “They’re already in enough danger and to get caught with us….”

“I’m not worried about it. I mean, Luka has that mark on her arms and both the twins are bonded to their own dragons; they’ve already proven themselves to be strong enough to defend themselves. Carly’s no pushover either.” Aki blinked.

“A… mark on their arms?” Fubuki nodded.

“Luka showed it to us. She said it helped her talk to the spirits but they’ve been acting weird for a while.” He paused, thinking back. “It was red I think. On her right arm.” Aki stood and rolled down the glove on her right arm. She held it up for everyone to see and those that had met the twins looked in surprise, jerking a bit. “It’s similar but yours is different.” Aki nodded.

“The five of us have different symbols,” she confirmed. “We’re Signers, chosen of the Crimson Dragon.” She rolled down her other sleeve, showing the black rose with thorns that was her mark with Black Rose Dragon. “We’re double bonded to our own unique dragons and then the Crimson dragon.” 

“That’s amazing,” Jim exclaimed. 

Aki fixed her sleeves, “Right but we only know of three of the Signers: myself, Yusei, and this Luka you’ve spoken of.”

Crow cleared his throat, “Four. We know of four. Jack’s got one of those as well.” 

“Didn’t see that coming,” Johan dumbly replied.

Looking between the lot of them, Sho raised his hand. “What’s up with this dragon and why are there five people with those marks?” 

“According to the history,” Yugi answered, “The only way to summon the Crimson Dragon is to have the five Signers near each other. Their energies, plus the energies of their dragons, have to come together to bring it back to this earth.” He eyed them all. “The Crimson Dragon is a god-dragon. Its powers are immense. It could easily go toe-to-toe with Osiris.”

“Isn’t Osiris a god from the Millennium Kingdom,” O’Brien asked. Yugi smiled.

“He’s a bit more than that. We’re lucky Atem’s joining the march of his army; he is Osiris’s bonded.”

Fubuki whistled, “Oh man. That’s pretty great.”

“So let me get this straight,” Jun cut in. “If we can get the five Signers together and this Atem guy can get here, we would have  _ two _ god-dragons on our side?” Judai shook his head.

“Three. Yubel’s got the power of the Supreme King behind them.” Fubuki whistled again and everyone looked a bit paler.

Yugi cleared his throat, “Anyway, Atem’s moving a good portion of his army to help retake the kingdom which means he’s going to be moving slowly right now even if they are only a day or two away. He doesn’t know anything about Yusei being the prince or what’s happened since we got here.”

“Then we need to send him word,” Jun said.

“Hate to bust it to ya,” Sho said, “but none of us have a falcon or pigeon and there’s no aviary around here to send one off from.” Ryo eyed Johan.

“What about your crystal beasts? O’Brien filled us in on your ability,” he answered before Johan could ask.

Johan shook his head. “No can do. Even with Rainbow Dragon boosting my power, the beasts can’t get through the light. Our connection right now is thin, at best. I’d have to leave the kingdom to send off a message and that’s supposing Rainbow and I could hold the connection long enough for them to reach Atem. The barrier of light would sever that connection instantly.”

_ We could try to send a message _ , Yubel told Judai,  _ through the power of the Crimson Dragon _ . Judai froze. He listened for a moment before he cleared his throat. Everyone turned their eyes on him. 

“Yubel has something to tell all of you. I’m switching out.”

“What the hell does that…” Jun started. He didn’t get a chance to finish as Judai closed his eyes. When they opened, they were orange and green and those that had been with him the longest, knew that it was Yubel speaking to them now. The search party jerked.

“I can’t stay here long,” it warned. “So don’t interrupt me. The Crimson Dragon is light. Just as I am the balance to the Supreme King, destructive darkness and gentle darkness, it is the gentle light to the destructive light that is trying to take over this kingdom and possibly the world.” It turned to look at Aki. “If we use your powers with mine as a booster, we should be able to manifest Winged Kuriboh to send it.” It clenched its fist. “I can make spirits manifest much like you or Johan but it will take you giving the fluff ball a barrier of its own to slip through the other barrier.” It took a shuddering breath, “I’m switching out. Being here is making me sick.” And that was that. Judai’s body closed its eyes and they had returned to normal. The search party was still in shock but he didn’t address what happened, acting as if it was a normal, everyday thing.

Instead, he added, “Yubel says that Winged Kuriboh would be able to make it to Atem if we can get it through the barrier because the Supreme King will be fueling it through them.” He smirked. “Basically, I’m a walking triple powerhouse.”

“It sounds like we have a plan then,” O’Brien said, standing. “No matter how basic it is right now. We can add to it when we get back to the kingdom and have a talk with the twins and Carly; they should have more of an idea of what’s going on and what would be our best way inside. We’ll go get our things and met you down at the eastern docks. Our contact is there waiting to take us back.”

“Right,” Yugi said. “We’ll get the dragons and meet you all down there.” 

Martha smiled at them, “I’ll make sure to keep an eye on everything for you. You all go out and save the world. Make sure to fix this kingdom right good and get those fool boys out of Goodwin’s grasp.” She turned to Johan and Judai, “May I speak to you boys for a moment?” They shared a look but nodded.

The group broke up. Martha went with them into the kitchen, handing them each a scrub brush. Neither of them were surprised; they’d helped enough at this point to know how to use one so they set about helping her clean the kitchen until she felt ready to speak to them. It took a long time. They were down to their last couple of plates when her face softened, “I’m begging you two. Please protect my boys.” She sighed and turned so her back was leaning against the counter. “Ever since I’ve known them, those three have been thick as thieves: Yusei, Jack, and Crow. The troublesome terrors of the Satellite. They’re all strong, and brave, but they’ve all got a stubborn streak in them a mile wide and if anyone they care about is on the line, they’ll jump in with no questions asked. Especially that Yusei. He feels so guilty for what happened in Zero Reverse….”

“Why is that,” Judai asked. Martha’s face softened.

“King Fudo started a research into the light, leading to a system that I only ever called ‘Momentum.’ It was supposed to be the ultimate light magic but… something went wrong.” She leaned her head back. “I was a maid for Queen Fudo at the time and I was as close to them as a mere serving girl could be. They trusted me with a lot. Especially their son when he was finally born. The hour before Zero Reverse happened, the King and Queen approached me and asked me to take Yusei and run. They said something had gone wrong with the magic research and they feared that the kingdom was going to be destroyed. They had no time to warn anyone but they could at least ensure that the kingdom would not lose hope.” She closed her eyes. “I took Yusei and ran. We made it as far as the docks.” She looked at them again. “The next thing I knew, I was waking up on the island with the young prince in my arms. I managed to get a hold of this house and set about fixing it to ensure that we had a place to stay but then… the I found Jack and Crow and all the other kids. It was only then that I realized what damage Zero Reverse had done. These children had no hope. I finally understood what the King and Queen had wished.” She clasped her hands together, “I told Yusei about his destiny when he was eleven. Jack overheard us. I convinced him to remain silent to protect Yusei and the kingdom but… I wasn’t at all prepared for when I heard he had stolen the pendant and run away to Goodwin. I can’t hate him though. Jack lost everything.” She winked at them, “But that doesn’t mean he’s not going to get an earful when he comes home.” 

Johan smiled and nodded, “We’ll make sure to bring him back so he can get to hear it.”

“Wouldn’t be fair after all,” Judai joked, “if we have to hear it for not bringing him back. His turn to suffer.” Martha chuckled. She reached out, catching both boys around the shoulders. 

“Thank-you both,” she breathed. She pushed back, her smile widening, “Also, you better treat my boy right or I will have to come after both of you.”

They blushed, “Wh-what…?”

She tisked. “Come now boys. A mother’s instinct never lies. You both like Yusei right?” They shared a look before Johan closed his eyes softly.

“Yes, we do.” He opened them, smiling at her with the same soft expression. “We promise; we’ll treat him right.” She nodded, satisfied with the answer. 

“Good. Now, I’ll leave you two to finish these dishes. I’ve got to go and gather up Crow’s nestlings to bring them here while he’s gone.” She waved them off as she went to get her things. They giggled in the silence when she was finally gone. 

“Busted.”

“Guess we should’ve known better.” Johan’s smile turned then. He reached for Judai’s hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. “He’s alright. He’s gotta be alright. Right?” Judai nodded. 

“I believe in Yusei. I don’t think Goodwin would do anything to him so soon after getting his hands on him. Yusei’s too important.” He squeezed back before pulling the hand up to his lips, kissing his skin gently. “We’ll get him back. We’ve got everything we need on our side.” 

“You’re right. We’ll get him back.” 

They finished the dishes as they had been told to do before they went to prep their dragons for their journey over to the mainland. Going back inside afterwards, they Yugi, O'Brien, Ryo and Jim writing a message to Atem. Yugi looked up when they entered. "We've got the note ready. You ready to summon Winged Kuriboh?" Judai shrugged. 

"Not really but we don't have much of a choice." Aki and Sho walked in after that. 

"We might as well get it done," she said. "We are on a race against time." Judai nodded. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. This time, when he opened them, they were gold. Winged Kuriboh manifested next to him with a few blinks of the eyes before it gave a cheerful chirp, flying around the heads of nearly everyone in the room. It landed in Aki's arms. She smiled. "How cute. Let's get you powered up to deliver that message." She breathed and the mark of the Dragon lit up on her arm; the red light encircled Kuriboh and when it died, Yugi handed him the note. 

"We're counting on you Winged Kuriboh."

He chirped again before flying off. Judai smiled, looking at the group.

"Let's go. We've got a kingdom to save." 


	17. Rescue

The thin but tall man pulled Yusei’s head back. Yusei had seen better days; his shirt had been removed so that his bare skin could be bruised and battered by the different techniques they had employed to warrant getting him to talk. They already knew about Jack and him, two of the five Signers, and about the army from the Millennium Kingdom that was heading their way but there was more, things that his annoying ability as a Signer blocked from their vision and they needed to know them. _ Now _ . ** **   
** **

“Talk,” the man spit. Yusei cringed against the sudden jerk to his head but he only grinned at him, like the cat that ate the canary. The man threw his head down.  ** **   
** **

“That’s enough,” another voice said. The man stopped as three other people walked in. Yusei looked up as well as he could with a swollen eye. He was surprised to find that the voice that entered and commanded the room was not, in fact, the voice of Rex Goodwin, but that of a much larger and older man with no hair and long beard. One eye was covered and gone. Goodwin actually stayed behind them.  ** **   
** **

That’s when it hit him. ** **   
** **

_ Goodwin’s just a puppet. They’re the real problem _ . ** **   
** **

The thin man snickered and moved closer to them, “He’s still not talking.” ** **   
** **

“Duh,” the shortest one- a boy if anything- said. “He’s got too much on the line to talk.” He clapped his hands antagonistically in the other man’s face. “Come on Placido. We know this about him.” ** **   
** **

“Lucciano speaks the truth,” the old man said. “We must give him an incentive to talk.” ** **   
** **

Placido’s face twisted, “Well I know a certain white knight who betrayed the kingdom. Why don’t we start there?” He turned back to Yusei, taunting, “How about we have a public execution for him?” ** **   
** **

Yusei jerked a bit before spitting out, “Drop dead.” ** **   
** **

Lucciano shrugged, “He’s not going to think we’ll do it Jose until we do it.” ** **   
** **

Jose hummed. He looked back over his shoulder to Goodwin who bowed to him, “Set it up. Jack Atlas dies in the morning for treason against the kingdom.” ** **   
** **

“At once,” Goodwin assured him. The four of them turned and left with Lucciano and Placido taunting him until the door closed with a heavy metallic -clang-.  ** **   
** **

***** ** **   
** **

“You’re back,” Lua cheered as the group smiled at them from the front door. He leaned his head to the side as he stared at the new people. “Who are they?” ** **   
** **

“Friends of Jack’s,” Asuka explained. ** **   
** **

“Let them in Lua,” an exasperated voice ordered. Luka walked up behind them. “Come in everyone. We can talk with the help of Ancient Fairy dragon.” The group scuttled inside and she smiled up to a higher window, “Okay Ancient Fairy Dragon.” There was a soft, melodic roar and they watched in amazement as the house was covered by swirling rainbow barrier. Luka smiled. “We’re good now.” ** **   
** **

“That’s amazing,” Johan mused.  ** **   
** **

“Thank-you,” she beamed. Lua puffed out her chest.  ** **   
** **

“You should see what else Luka can do. She can talk to the spirits!” She blushed. ** **   
** **

“Not that well and I can’t bring them into this world.” ** **   
** **

“It’ll happen when you get older,” Judai promised. ** **   
** **

“Just takes a lot of practice,”Aki added. ** **   
** **

“And concentration,” Johan said. The twins blinked at the three of them. ** **   
** **

Luka asked slowly, “Can… can you three see spirits too?” Judai scratched his cheek. ** **   
** **

“Yeah we can.” Her face lit up. ** **   
** **

“That’s amazing! I’ve never met anyone else who can!” ** **   
** **

“We can talk about how amazing that is later,” O’Brien cut in. “Luka, show Aki your arm.” She nodded and did as told, rolling up the sleeve of her dress. Aki examined it and nodded. ** **   
** **

“That’s a Signer mark for sure. We’re definitely in the right place.” Aki returned the favor.  ** **   
** **

“Oh wow,” Luka breathed. “You can see spirits and are a Signer too? Double awesome!” ** **   
** **

“Luka, Lua,” Asuka leaned down, talking to them on face level, “We’re looking for some information about how to get into the castle. A friend of ours, and another Signer, have been taken there by King Goodwin.” The twins shared a look. They shook their heads. ** **   
** **

“Sorry Asuka….” ** **   
** **

“We don’t know how to get in there,” Lua explained. “Papa wouldn’t let us anywhere near the castle.” ** **   
** **

The group deflated. “Guess that means that we better start staking out the pubs or something,” Jim suggested.  ** **   
** **

“We can also try listening to the guards too,” O’Brien offered. “Low pay and stress usually equally loose lips.” ** **   
** **

The front door slammed open. The group turned, most of them reaching for some kind of a weapon as a green haired woman with thick glasses came barrelling in. Luka leaned around them.  ** **   
** **

“You alright there Carly?” She was doubled over, panting. She held up a piece of parchment. ** **   
** **

“Goodwin…” she gasped. “Goodwin just…. just sent these out.” Ryo took it from her hand and opened it. Fubuki and Asuka read over his shoulder. Their faces twisted. Fubuki gasped. ** **   
** **

Ryo read allowed to everyone, “By order of King Goodwin, the former knight known as Jack Atlas will be executed at the rising of dawn tomorrow. He has been sentenced due to the high crime of treason and will be beheaded.” ** **   
** **

“There’s no time then,” Yugi ordered. “We have to raid tonight.” ** **   
** **

“We’re outnumbered,” Jim reminded him.  ** **   
** **

“We need to get another message to Atem too,” Johan said. “Let’s send Ruby this time.” ** **   
** **

“I can make them real but Ruby’ll be too slow,” Judai said, starting to pace. “We need to send Cobalt. He’ll be able to catch Winged Kuriboh along the way.” He looked at him seriously. “I can feed both of them with no issues; the Supreme King has more than enough power for that.” ** **   
** **

“Summon who,” Lua asked. Neither Johan nor Judai responded. Both closed their eyes for two very different reasons: one to summon a spirit and one to shift his energies to his other form.  ** **   
** **

Cobalt Eagle appeared and stretched its wings before looking around, "My you've collected a bit of friends along the way.” It bowed its head, “I'm glad to see you're safe Prince Judai. My apologies for not being able to catch you.” ** **   
** **

"You did your best," he assured him. "But we need your help. Aki is going to cloak you with the power of the Crimson Dragon. We sent Winged Kuriboh to deliver a message to the Pharaoh of the Millennium Kingdom. We need you to over take him and tell him to speed up his march. Jack is to be executed in the morning. They shouldn't be that far away." Ryo stepped forward. ** **   
** **

"Take this as proof." Cobalt nodded and tucked it into his feathers. Aki approached him. She held up her hands and concentrated but only a faint glow appeared. She broke away, panting.  ** **   
** **

"I can't. I don't have enough strength to make it any stronger." Johan and Judai shared a look.  ** **   
** **

Luka stepped forward and held up her hands, "Let me help." Aki smiled. The two of them concentrated until the glow grew in both their arms and around the Eagle. When they were done, it spread its wings and took off, flying quickly.  ** **   
** **

"Now what," Jun asked.  ** **   
** **

"We wait," Yugi said. Everyone stared at him like he lost his mind. "I've got a plan but we're going to have to have the execution start on time." ** **   
** **

"Sounds like we'll be cutting it close."  ** **   
** **

"Oh we will," Yugi smiled. "But here it is…." ** **   
** **

*****

Atem frowned and showed the note to Mahad. Isis, Shada, and Set had remained behind to protect the kingdom but Mana had followed her best friends without question despite the fact they did try to get her to stay behind. They frowned at the news in the letter.  ** **   
** **

"It sounds like they need us there," Mana noted.  ** **   
** **

"Yes," Mahad said, "but we can't tax the troops anymore. It's a miracle we made it this far with as many we did in such a short time." ** **   
** **

"Mahad' s right," Atem agreed. Mana bowed her head.  ** **   
** **

Suddenly, an arrow flew up and the three of them looked at where it had come from. Some of the soldiers were up and screaming at the sky. Atem narrowed his eyes. In the shadows of the sky, he could just make put a shape heading their way. It dodged the arrows expertly. It was much larger than any natural bird. ** **   
** **

"Hold your fire," he shouted. The soldiers stopped immediately. The bird landed then with no issues and Atem was right, it was no ordinary bird.  ** **   
** **

It bowed, "Pharaoh Atem. Prince Johan sent me with important news." It pulled out the flyer, handing it to him gently with his beak. "Your army is needed in New Domino now. King Goodwin is making his move. Starting with the White Knight, Jack Atlas." Atem read the flyer. He nodded and stood.  ** **   
** **

"My people," he shouted. All heads turned to him, "I know you are tired. I understand as I have asked a great deal of you. However, the danger is on our horizon. It comes in the morning. We must be there to meet it head on or risk losing our homes and loved ones. Please, stand. We move out in five minutes." The troops shouted and the sound of shuffling could be heard. Cobalt bowed its head again. ** **   
** **

"You have good people Pharoah. Prince Johan thanks you sincerely."  ** **   
** **

It disappeared.  ** **   
** **

Atem turned to Mahad and Mana. "The hour of reckoning is on us." ** **   
** **

"We're with you all the way," they affirmed. He smiled at them. ** **   
** **

"I wouldn't have it any other way." ** **   
** **

***** ** **   
** **

Dawn came quickly.  ** **   
** **

When the fates were finally opened, just before hand, a massive crowd of people made their way inside. King Goodwin watched them all like a hawk- looking and sensing. He felt no sign of the other Signers and frowned; only Jack Atlas's mark registered on his senses but nothing else. Where were they? ** **   
** **

"Do not worry about them," a voice ordered. The three Pure Knights bowed to the fourth, a man sitting in a rolling chair, hidden by the shadows. "All will continue as planned once that pesky Crimson Dragon is out of our way. We have the prince. Your reign is assured and the future, as promised, will come to pass." Goodwin nodded and closed his eyes. He turned back to the opening. The trumpets sounded. The people cheered as he stepped out onto the balcony.  ** **   
** **

He waved for a minute before announcing, "Good People of Domino…." ** **   
** **

***** ** **   
** **

"Go time," O'Brien whispered.  ** **   
** **

"You two stay behind us," Jim ordered. ** **   
** **

Sho and Lua nodded. ** **   
** **

**** ** **   
** **

"Today, we gather to protect our kingdom from those who would wish us harm…." ** **   
** **

***** ** **   
** **

The guards grunted as their heads hit the ground. Asuka and Jun nodded to each other before carefully stepping into the stables; the two dragons, Red Archfiend and Stardust, were tied down. Each took one. Archfiend jerked against his restraints and Asuka stared him hard in the eye, "We are going to save Jack. But you better behave and go when I tell you to or you could get him killed." ** **   
** **

He quieted after that.  ** **   
** **

She looked around when the last seal was off and stopped, looking into the corner. "Oh no. Who are you?" ** **   
** **

The dragon whimpered softly. ** **   
** **

***** ** **   
** **

"The man we once called defender has betrayed us; he has sided with the bandits that seek to destroy our kingdom, the filth from the Satellite known as the Junk Warriors." ** **   
** **

The crowd hissed and booed.  ** **   
** **

"Wow, tough crowd," Judai muttered. Johan rolled his eyes.  ** **   
** **

"Focus now. Joke later." ** **   
** **

"Right." ** **   
** **

***** ** **   
** **

"Ancient Fairy is ready to go." ** **   
** **

"Good. Let's get ready to knock that king straight on his butt."  ** **   
** **

Luka nodded and the two of them closed their eyes. ** **   
** **

***** ** **   
** **

"Bring forth the prisoner," he shouted. The crowd watched with blood thirsty eyes as a gate rose. Jack was not in his fine white outfit, instead, he was in rags. He looked bruised and battered but hadn’t lost any of his usually stubborn nature; his eyes were still sharp with defiance and his mouth was shut with a cloth. Carly snickered.  ** **   
** **

"Same old Jack." ** **   
** **

"He's going to enjoy this break out then," Yugi agreed. He looked back towards the palace wall were the first rays of sun were starting to break. "Let's hope the girls can pull it off." ** **   
** **

"They will," Carly assured him. “Let’s just get ready with our part.” ** **   
** **

Yugi nodded.  ** **   
** **

Jack was marched to a high platform surrounded by soldiers. The crowd grew incestuously louder as he was finally placed on it, then knocked to his knees by the guard. The executioner leered at him.  ** **   
** **

Jack glared back.  ** **   
** **

"Now," Yugi whispered. ** **   
** **

The first blast rocked the top of the castle. Everyone screamed. Yugi looked to see smoke rising from the crowd; Judai had signaled the attack. The people scrambling out of the way. The guards were immediately overwhelmed. The executioner looked confused.  ** **   
** **

Jack took the moment to knock him and his guard off the platform.  ** **   
** **

Yugi smirked, "He did exactly like you said he would like you said he would." ** **   
** **

"Told you," she shouted, running up the stairs towards him. He looked back surprised. He grunted something until she managed to jerk the cloth down around his neck. ** **   
** **

"Carly? What in the world are you doing here?"  ** **   
** **

Another blast. She smiled as she carefully cut the ropes around his wrists and legs. "In the flesh and I brought the calvary!" He rubbed his wrists. Yugi raised a hand.  ** **   
** **

"Hi there. I'm Yugi. Friend of Yusei and assistant of getting the kingdom back." Jack didn't respond. He just turned towards the balcony.  ** **   
** **

"If that's the case then we need to cut the snake off at the head."  ** **   
** **

"That's the plan," he mused. Jack blinked and then looked around as eight dragons appeared in the sky. He smiled. ** **   
** **

"Archfiend!" The dragon roared in response. All at once, the dragons swooped down, landing in the cleared courtyard, facing down the regular soldiers like they were nothing. Jack smirked. "Buncha cowards that lot." ** **   
** **

"Don't think that it'll be that easy." They looked up. Three figures appeared from the sky, jumping from the balcony. They smirked at them. ** **   
** **

"We're not scared of these pathetic dragons," Lucciano snarled. "Our Mechlords will prove that!" ** **   
** **

Each of them held up a hand. Three giants monsters appeared through a swirling blue portal. Every one of them that remained, paled. Carly stepped back. ** **   
** **

"What are those?" ** **   
** **

"Your destruction," Jose said simply. Placido grunted as he rushed forward, sword out. Yugi pulled his and stepped in the way. He grunted upon impact.  ** **   
** **

The battle had just begun.  ** **   
** **

***** ** **   
** **

Lua felt weird. ** **   
** **

Something twinged on his left arm and he touched his mark, a heart with a staff in the middle, and realized that his dragon had appeared.  ** **   
** **

"Sho," he said excitedly, ducking a helmet that flew at his head. “My dragon’s appeared!” ** **   
** **

“Seriously,” he shouted. Sho stopped short of a sword that was swung down at them, causing Lua to run into his back. The two screamed as the soldier turned to redirect his attack… until his eyes rolled back in his head and he slumped to the floor.  ** **   
** **

“Get moving you two,” O’Brien ordered. “Yusei has to be down here somewhere.” He tossed them the keys. Sho caught it. “Find him and get him out of here.” ** **   
** **

“Roger,” Sho said. The two of them ran down the dark hall as he and Jim went side to side against the steady stream of knights trying to come down the stairs.  ** **   
** **

Yusei lifted his head when he heard the shuffle. There was no light in his cell but he figured that Jack’s execution was either happening or…. ** **   
** **

He smirked. Leave it to Judai, Johan, and Yugi to know how throw in some chaos. He rose to his feet but could only move a few feet forward. Suddenly, a teal haired kid appeared in the window, “Are you Yusei?” ** **   
** **

“I’m guessing you’re the rescue team?” The kid smirked.  ** **   
** **

“It’s him Sho,” he said, looking down. His face disappeared from sight and there was a heavy click as the lock was opened. Two really small people- the kid and the one called Sho- entered. They ran to him immediately. Sho went through all the keys to find the ones that worked.  ** **   
** **

“I’m Lua, this is Sho,” Lua greeted. “My twin sister Luka is one of you Signers.” Yusei blinked. ** **   
** **

“That explains why Crow let you two anywhere near here.” ** **   
** **

“He didn’t want to at first,” Sho assured him. He finally removed his restraints. Yusei rubbed his wrists.  ** **   
** **

“That’s Crow for you.”  ** **   
** **

“Hey,” O’Brien said. Yusei eyed him until Lua stepped forward. ** **   
** **

“We found him O’Brien!’ ** **   
** **

“I can see that.” He tossed Yusei a shirt and sword. “O’Brien. Jim’s behind me. We need to get back outside and help Yugi and the others.” ** **   
** **

Yusei nodded. His body hurt like the devil and throbbing came in rhythmic patterns; Stardust was in danger. He could feel it. ** **   
** **

And so was his kingdom.


	18. Light

The courtyard was ruined. The castle was on fire. 

The dungeon team made it outside with O'Brien and Jim helping to carry Yusei as the pain had gotten a bit much. Lua was the first out. He looked around for a few moments until he looked up and saw Ancient Fairy Dragon using her barrier to defend herself and another dragon against an attack. His face lit up.

"Lifestream Dragon," he breathed. 

"Lua!" They turned to see Luka running up to them, panting. She had some scratches on her and Lua caught her. She looked up at them weakly. 

"The others… the others are hurt," she wanted. "Badly." O'Brien looked around. Those who were bonded were scattered about, laying on the ground as were most of their dragons. Rainbow was staying aloft, fighting off a monster that looked… not natural. Two of them attacked Ancient Fairy. Luka gripped his sleeves. "She can't hold it much longer." 

"Gandora! Ultimate destruction!" They looked in surprise as the black and red dragon pushed herself from the ground, shaking her head, before flying into the sky. Once between the monsters, she curled in and…. Exploded with red light. The monsters weren't ready. Each was hit in the back several times before they fell to the ground. Luka and Yugi fainted. Their dragons fell too. Lua gripped his sister's shoulders as she slumped forward onto his chest. 

"Luka? Luka?" No response. Tears welled up in his eyes. "Lifestream dragon! Help them! We have to protect them!" The tan dragon roared. It angled and flew sharply downwards, catching Ancient Fairy before she hit the ground and Rainbow did the same for Gandora. Once they were settled, it flew back up, expanding its wings. A rainbow hue appeared on it and light descended in the dragons beneath it. Lua squeezed Luka's shoulders tighter. "It's...it's not enough," he breathed. "More… we need more!" He closed his eyes, willing with all his might to help all of his friends and to protect his sister. 

To everyone's surprise, Lifestream roared and mimicked his pose, pushing with all his might. 

A red light appeared on his arm. Their eyes went wide and they watched as a mark just like Aki's and Luka's appeared. 

"He's a Signer too," Jim said. Lifestream roared again. His power increased, flooding the courtyard. Those who had been injured were enveloped in the soft glow. Smaller injuries healed instantly and all of their energy seemed to return. Yugi and Gandora pushed themselves up from the ground. Ancient Fairy Dragon too lifted her head, giving a soft growl. Luka stirred. She opened her eyes and smiled up at him. 

"Lua," she breathed. He hugged her tightly. 

"You're okay." She nodded, staying still for a moment in his embrace before standing. He stood with her, not releasing her hand. The others got up too. Judai hugged Johan tightly. Yusei straightened, smiling at O'Brien and Jim for their assistance. The dragons roared and stood on their feet, shaking the rest of the tiredness out of their system. 

"Good job Lua," Judai called. He turned, facing lighting up. "Yusei! You're alright!" 

"I am now thanks to everyone."

"Oh please. Make me gag." The dragons turned, growling lowly as the three, Jose, Placido, and Lucciano, rose up into the air, their scattered monsters flying up with them.

"It's too late for you anyway," Placido added.

"The plan is done. The light shall reign," Jose declared, "All hail the ultimate power!" 

They looked on in horror as a beam of light appeared from the castle. It spread quickly across the land. They had just enough time to grab for another person and block their eyes.

Everything went  _ whit _ e.

*****

Yusei blinked and opened his eyes. They were floating, all of them in a world of white. He could see everyone was there, including the dragons. 

"Yusei," Crow called. He flew over on the back of Black Feather as everyone gathered. He jumped down, giving him a tight hug. "Glad to see you're alright." He reached into his shirt, pulling out the pendant and giving it back to him, "This belongs to you." He took it with a sad smile. 

"Thanks Crow."

"That pendant will do you no good now." They all turned. Sitting in a rolling chair in front of them was an old man. He covered his face with a hood but they could see the damage age had done to his skin. Yusei stepped forward. 

"This is my kingdom and I demand it back."

The man turned, "You can demand as you wish but I will ensure our goals come to pass."

"And what are those anyway," Yugi asked. "World domination?"

The old man shook his head. "Oh no. Nothing that crass." He stared Judai down and Yubel hissed. "We want to save the world."

That floored them.

He motioned with his hand and an image appeared in front of them. They watched. "This is the future," he explained. "Magic and science live side by side. Humans and all creatures live in harmony. However…." The image shifted. The world went dark, buildings crumbled and collapsed, people ran, screaming. "Destruction came upon us by an army of darkness. No one was ready. We struggled to survive until some of us figured out how to return to the past and fix the future."

"By destroying our time," Judai demanded.

The man glared him down, "It is because you could not keep the destructive dark in check Supreme King that we came here to your first awakening in over a thousand years." Judai flinched. Johan reached for his hand and squeezed, glaring up at him.

"It's not Judai's fault." The old man chuckled. 

"You are right." He reached up, pulling his hood off. 

Everyone gasped. 

He was….

"You can't be," Judai gasped.

"It's not true," Johan breathed. 

"You can't be…. Me."

The man smiled softly. Except of the clear age difference, he and Yusei could be passed for twins. They had the same hair though his was whiter and the same gold marks on the side of his face. 

"In the future, I am called Zone." His face hardened again. "Do you see now why you can't stop me?" Yusei gritted his teeth.

Suddenly, two shadows crossed in front of him. Yusei looked up, surprised to see Jack and Crow standing in front of him.

"You aren't Yusei," Crow shouted. 

"That's right," Jack added. "Yusei would never do something as bad as try to destroy the past to save the future."

"Yusei is kind," Aki said, stepping forward. "He cares for everyone but is wise enough to know that we would never let him do this."

"We've only known him for a short time," the twins said, "but we trust him. As a Signer and as our friend."

Zone sighed. "Friends mean nothing when they aren't there to support you." He raised his hand. A strong blast of light appeared, hitting each of them in the chest, knocking them backwards and into a large portal that opened. Yusei reached for them but couldn't move. The dragons roared and rushed for their bonded.

Judai gritted his teeth. He turned to Johan, his eyes flashing and Johan immediately understood what he was going to do. He nodded. Judai turned so that he could slow his momentum. Johan copied. As soon as the last dragon touched the portal, it began to close. Judai gritted his teeth,  _ Yubel!  _ Johan caught his hand.

Yubel took over and, even though they could not be seen, it opened their wings and flew them back up. They landed next to Yusei, much to his relief. 

"Good try Zone," Judai growled. "But Yusei will never be alone."

"Not as long as we are willing to fight." Zone eyed them.

"Then you shall all die together." He snapped his fingers. A pool of black appeared underneath them; Johan and Yusei climbed on their dragons to fly higher to avoid it. Judai stared at it in shock. This was the destructive darkness. He thought he saw something white flash in the darkness and he squinted. 

Was that… Goodwin?

He rubbed his eyes but it was gone when he looked again. He flew up to the other ones. 

"I think I saw Goodwin in that monster."

"Seriously?" Yusei frowned.

"So he really was their puppet."

The creature roared as it's face appeared. It was oozing black and it stepped forward. The large purple mark appeared on its back. The three of them gasped. "Is that…. A signer mark?"

"Get them. Destroy the gentle light and darkness that wish for your destruction." The creature roared. It opened its mouth and a beam of light came towards the dragons. They rolled, dodging. Judai let Yubel take over, allowing his nails to grow into claws. He flew around the creature and dive bombed its side, swiping at it. 

You can imagine how well that worked. 

His claw got stuck and only a blast from Stardust managed to dislodge him. He flew away with a smile. "Thanks!" Yusei nodded and they dodged another blast. 

Rainbow Dragon lit up then, allowing a wash of colored light to burst from his jewels. It hit, leaving a giant gash in its side. Johan cheered. 

But it immediately repaired itself.

Johan flew up to the others, "Nothing's working."

"I think this is a situation for the god-dragons."

"But we're still missing a Signer right," Yusei asked. "Lua only just became one today."

Johan’s eyes narrowed. "Can you sense them? Luka told us she could earlier…."

"I don't know," Yusei admitted. “Never tried it but if it’s like sensing dragons, then I’ve got a little bit of experience.” Stardust rumbled a bit. The dragons flew up and around again as the creature swatted at them. 

"Might as well try," Judai called. Yusei nodded. He removed the glove on his hand and closed his eyes, breathing deep. He could feel them all, Jack, Lua, Luka, Aki and….

… Goodwin.

He gasped, opening his eyes as Stardust rolled around a blast. He flew close to the others. 

"It's Goodwin," he shouted. "He's the last one."

"Shit and he's in that monster," Judai called. He dodged again. 

"How are we going to get to him?" Yusei looked down at the creature. His face twisted. "Yusei, I don't like that look. I know exactly what you're thinking and there has to be another way."

"I don't think there is Johan." Judai and Johan shared a look then sighed. Judai flew close, taking Johan's hand so they could fly over to Yusei. He blinked at the two of them

Then, before he could say anything, they both leaned close and kissed each cheek.

He blushed. 

"You better come back in one piece," they said in unison. He smiled and nodded. They flew backwards so Judai could return Johan to Rainbow dragon. 

"We'll run a distraction. Go get'em Star." 

Yusei nodded. Together, the three of them dived for the creature. Zone watched them carefully. Rainbow and Yubel aimed for its head, blasting it hard and drawing it off to the right. Zone's one good eye went wide. 

"Watch your left!"

But it was too late. Stardust dived until it's scales barely skimmed the monsters back. He reached up a hand to help Yusei down. Yusei smiled, climbing into the dragon’s claw, reaching a hand up to rest it on his neck reassuringly, "Help them until I get back." Stardust growled. He lowered his hand until Yusei touched the black. 

When Stardust let go, Yusei disappeared almost instantly. 

*****

It was jarring to go from pure white to pure black. Yusei found that the creature was not slimy on the inside; it was almost like he had travelled to another dimension again. He looked all around. There was no sign of Goodwin but he didn't let that stop him. He moved forward, looking in the pure black for his goal. 

Something grabbed for his foot. He looked down, finding an eyeless, shaplease creature reaching for him. He grunted and kicked away. More came and he floated away faster. 

_ Please,  _ He begged in his mind,  _ Help me find him.  _

A soft growl was the reply he received. Yusei's arm lit up and he raised it, allowing the light to pull him in the right direction.

It pulled him faster than the monsters. 

A door of white appeared in front of him. He was pulled through into more darkness. He looked back. The monsters were gone, thank goodness. He turned. Someone was now in front of him. Goodwin didn't look good. Half of his body was gone and Yusei had a feeling that it was only because of the glowing mark on his arm that anything remained. He floated closer. Goodwin raised his head.

"Yusei Fudo," he breathed.

"I've come to rescue," he said. Goodwin blinked then shook his head.

"No, you came for the Crimson Dragon," he said. He looked up into the darkness. "If this monster hadn't already eaten those other three and their monsters, the Mechlords, I would be gone too." He looked seriously at Yusei. "I am so sorry your majesty. This is my fault." He swallowed, "My brother and I worked with your father on the magic. We… We were the ones to sabotage the experiments through Zone' s promoting. He showed us the future and said that we could save it. My brother died in the initial explosion…. I am so sorry." 

Yusei smiled sadly, "Goodwin…."

"My time is over," he cut him off. "I give the power of the Crimson Dragon over willingly." The red light appeared on his arm. It flew off and straight to Yusei who held out his hand for it. Goodwin smiled sadly. "End this Yusei. I know now that you are the real future; not Zone, not Jose or Placido or Lucciano.  _ You _ ."

Yusei nodded, closing his hand on the power. "Thank you, Goodwin." The elder man smiled before he finally faded away. 

Yusei closed his eyes. The light enveloped him and he burst out of the creature, much to the joy of Johan and Judai who were still dodging attacks. They cheered when the light died and Yusei glared down at the creature and Zone. 

"This is the end," he shouted. He raised his arm and the powers of the Crimson Dragon burned red hot. The creature shrunk away. 

He could feel them. Jack. Lua. Luka. Aki. He could feel their support. He smiled. Oh, and Crow. The Dragon had already chosen a new Signer.

"Descend upon this world," Yusei shouted, "and end this reign of darkness."

All the Signers, sitting on the back of their dragons in the ruined courtyard of the palace, gasped as their marks disappeared and a hole appeared in the sky. They could see Johan, Judai, and Yusei. Yusei had on his back, a full dragon. Stardust and the others roared.

The power flashed from him and higher into the sky. It came down. The Crimson Dragon was a fully made of energy; red, burning energy with electricity shooting around it. It roared and the sound reverberated through the air. Yusei pointed down and it flew forward, wrapping itself around the creature who also roared, trying to hit them with a beam of light. The Crimson Dragon bit its neck. 

Everyone cheered. 

They were finally going to win!

Yusei frowned when he saw the darkness trying to absorb the Crimson Dragon. The darkness bloomed outward,catching some of the dragon’s limbs and staining them black. Now, it was struggling instead of the oozing darkness. Yusei gritted his teeth; he could feel his breathing start to become labored as the Crimson Dragon made its attempt at freeing itself.

"Oh Lord of the Sky, descend and aid in the removal of darkness!" All eyes turned. A bright light passed them and they had to shield their eyes. The clouds darkened. Another red Dragon, a more solid looking one, appeared which sent the crowd reeling a bit except for one. Yugi beamed, turning.

Atem glared up at the sky as the Millennium puzzle around his neck glowed. "Let's end this Yusei!"

Yusei nodded. Osiris knocked the creature hard, shaking the Crimson Dragon loose. The two powerful god-dragons flew up. 

"Go!” They shouted in tandem, “Royal Destruction!" 

The dragons roared and, as they flew higher, they straightened. They kept going before reaching a nexus point and arching, turning when they’d reached the highest point. As they returned, straight down to the darkness, red energy burst around their twisting forms before swirling around them. They stopped short. The energy kept going and spinning. 

Johan, Judai, and Yusei didn't get the chance to see it. 

The Crimson Dragon covered them as Osiris dropped, using its long body to protect everyone back on the ground. 

The world exploded in red.


	19. Epilogue: Confessions

Yusei waved his hand, smiling to the people before he managed to duck back inside. He sighed, sinking into one of the comfortable chairs; he rubbed his eyes.

"Good job today Yusei." He looked up. The other adult Signers stood in the room with him. They smiled at him. 

"The people really liked you," Aki noted. 

"And the plans to reconnect the Satellite with the kingdom are moving smoothly," Crow added. 

"The dragons are excited to help at least," Jack added. 

"Things are going well at the new doctors clinics over on the Satellite," Aki said. "We've managed to reunite a lot of people with their families."

Yusei smiled and nodded, “Thank you all.” 

Never had he felt so tired in his life. A lot had happened in the last two weeks since Goodwin’s disappearance and Zone’s defeat. All of the people that had been kidnapped, they discovered, were released from the darkness. Yusei had vowed that he wouldn't stop until every person from New Domino had been returned to their homes- that included those who had been physically sold all those years ago. Johan and Judai had promised to have everyone who was marked or claimed otherwise to be a citizen returned as soon as possible from their kingdoms at least and they would have word sent out through their connections to the other major kingdoms. Then there was the rebuilding of the castle and the bridge that would connect the two parts, Satellite and mainland, forever. The dragons were a big help on that front. That was on top of having to prove to the people that he was in fact the son of King and Queen Fudo and once that hurttle was passed, there was the coronation and setting up communications with other kingdoms and….

The list just didn’t seem to end. Yusei had never felt so light, and burdened, all at the same time. His heart twisted though when he remembered what the end real meant. 

His face betrayed his emotions. Aki noticed and she smiled softly. Clearing her throat, she said, "Well, you're probably really tired after your coronation. We'll just get out of your hair, King Yusei." The others stared at her like she had lost her mind until she grabbed the two of them and pushed them out the door. She waved to him a final time and closed it. 

While he wasn't completely ungrateful for the silence, it was just a bit unnerving after the hustle and quickness of his crowning ceremony. Then tonight was the ball and he was going to be required to show up for that and then tomorrow he would resume his kingly duties….. 

He sighed. And here he thought life had been hectic before. 

He chuckled before running a hand through his hair. He was going to have to have Aki slick it back again and she probably going to beat him for it too. Yusei leaned his head back for a moment. His eyes fluttered shut. 

A soft knock came from the door. 

He didn't open his eyes but he did say, "It's open."

The door opened quietly. It shut a second later and he could feel someone move close to him. He took a deep breath, "If you're Aki, sorry about the hair." 

"She's going to be mad at you over it but I'm sure we can do something about it." He jerked up. Judai and Johan stood before him. Both were dressed in the fanciest of outfits and each had a cape on their shoulders. Their hair too was tamed to about the same degree as his was. They'd never looked so regal before. 

"Judai, Johan," he breathed. They smiled at him and he stood, reaching for both of them. He caught them in a hug and both of them hesitated but then reached up and hugged him as well. They stayed like that for several minutes. He took a deep breath. They’d both put on perfume for the event. He squeezed a bit harder. “Thank-you. Both of you.” He pushed back to look them in the face. Their eyes were soft.

“Yusei,” Johan started. He stopped, looking at Judai. He licked his lips and nodded. “Yusei, we have something we need to admit to you.” Yusei blinked then smiled softly.

He reached forward again, pulling them in for a hug again. This one was softer. 

“I know what you’re going to say,” he breathed.

“Really,” Judai challenged, pushing back a bit. He was surprised to see Yusei’s eyes and soft smile. This was… an intimate moment. Yusei leaned down and kissed his forehead before switching to Johan. 

“Yes, because, I feel the same way. About both of you.” He squeezed their shoulders. “There’s… there’s going to be no easy answer for this but if you two are willing….”

“Of course we are,” Johan smiled. 

“We didn’t come all the way up here to be rejected by you,” Judai teased. “But, fair warning, Yubel says that if you break my heart, they get to throw you off the tower.” Yusei threw his head back and laughed. 

“That is a fair deal.” Yusei stroked his cheek. “But, I don’t plan on ever breaking your heart. Either of you.” 

They beamed at each other. This had to be the happiest they’d been in their whole lives.

Finally, they were complete.

*****

So. 

Yubel had failed.

So had Zone.

My, my how plans go awry. 

Back to the drawing board then.

Where, oh where, would the next guinea pig be?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! I had a lot of fun with this story and I hope you enjoyed the journey!
> 
> What's happening in the ending? Who knows? You might have to wait until next year's Big Bang to find out. <3

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Please comment and let me know what you liked or if you have any suggestions for future stories!
> 
> Don't forget to check out kestrelmakesart's response picture! Please share the love! https://kestrelmakesart.tumblr.com/post/187233852736/my-ygobigbang-piece-for-thecrazydragonlady-s


End file.
